Driving for Uber: The good, the bad and the downright ugly...

As I said in my introduction, I drive part time for Uber to make some extra cash. Some of the trips I have made are memorable and others are epic. Here are a few of them...

The Good: Pizza, Pizza and yet more Pizza...

Its Friday at 4am and I'm in downtown St Petersburg, Florida. It is the first Friday of the month and in St Pete, that means something as the business owners in the CBD promote "First Friday" in the downtown area as one huge block party. Lots of young people (20's and 30's) having a good time and a lot of them use Uber to get there and to get home safely and no potential DUI to shadow them for the rest of their lives.

Ride requests have started to taper off as the bars have closed at 3am and the only remaining business open till 4am is Joey Brooklyn's Pizza on 1st Ave N.

I get a ride request from that area and two 30 something young men approach my GMC Envoy for the pickup. Each of them are carrying a large box of Pepperoni Pizza.

I kid with them with the line of "Oh! You brought me a tip!".

They laugh and actually offer me a slice. (it's 4am and I have been driving for 10 hours and yes, I'm hungry).

I say "Thanks but let's get you guys to your destination first and then you can decide if you want to tip me with some pizza."

They both agree and off we go all the way to a condo complex where they live near the north end of 4th Street just before it merges with I-275 and the Howard Franklin Bridge. I drop them off and each of them offer up a slice of pepperoni pizza.

Since it's now 4:30am and I don't expect any more rides at this time from this area and therefore, I won't be having to explain "pizza breath" or why my GMC Envoy reeks of pepperoni pizza. So I accept the offered pizza and sit in the condo's parking lot to enjoy my "tip". it's actually pretty good pizza.

As I am half way through devouring the second slice, the Uber app on the phone chimes with the announcement of yet another ride request! WTH? It's coming from the Marriott hotel on Roosevelt Blvd that is about 2 miles away. My mind races as to what sort of person would request an Uber ride at 4:30am... from a hotel...

I can only come up with one conclusion: Some poor bastard has to catch an early flight and has to go to Tampa International Airport. UGH!

What this means is: (1) I will have to get out and open the rear hatch and help load his luggage in the back, (2) TIA is quite a bit out of my way as I'm trying to get home, and (3) I have to explain "pizza breath" and why my GMC Envoy reeks of pepperoni pizza.

But accepting the request means there will be more money in my bank account, so I accept the request, finish off the pizza slice by stuffing in my mouth and head up Roosevelt Blvd to the Marriott.

I pull into the pickup/drop off area in front of the hotel lobby and Uber automatically notifies the rider that I have arrived. A minute later, I get a text message informing me that he is in the elevator and on his way down, so I prepare to exit the driver's seat and open the hatch for his luggage.

This is what I am expecting:

As I see him exit the hotel, I start to laugh. No luggage, no bags, just a box of... Pizza. Joey Brooklyn's Pepperoni Pizza to be exact. he looks at me laughing at him and is puzzled. I explain that my previous riders had the exact same pizza. He says with amazement "No Way! Get outta here!

The best part of that trip? He is headed very close to where I live, so it's a really good end to the night.

The Bad: It's a long way to Kissimmee...

It's a Tuesday evening on Clearwater Beach during spring break. Business is not too bad. It's only 8pm and in the last our of working, I have done four rides. All of them were up and down the beach or over the small bridge to Sand Key. All were short rides, but productive.

I get a new ride request from near the round-about where the Memorial Causeway meets the main north-south roads on Clearwater Beach.

I pick up three college age guys at south exit of the round-about. All three are dressed in swim trunks (dry thank goodness) obviously have been enjoying the beach all day and they look very tired.

I think at this point I need to explain something about the Uber driver app that most riders don't know. When I accept a ride request, it only tells me the pickup location. It does not tell me where you are wanting to go. It is only after I swipe the "start trip" bar on my app do I see the final destination.

As my three riders get in my GMC Envoy, I swipe the "Start trip" bar and I find out where they want to go...
As I complete the swipe, the driver app zooms out showing most of the state of Florida and shows me the trip route to... Kissimmee...

I almost cancel the trip (we are allowed to in cases like this.) but I don't. I figure that trip will make me more money than I would otherwise get on a Tuesday. So I tell them I will do it, but I have to make a phone call first. I call my wife and explain. She says, "Ok, see you in three hours.". (it's 90 minutes one-way)

So we start off and before we cross Tampa Bay, all three of my riders are sound asleep. Traffic is light and we arrive at their hotel in Kissimmee in 90 minutes. I wake them up from their nap as we approach their hotel.

There is not much chance of getting a fare that will be heading back to Tampa Bay, after I drop them off,. I'm hungry and I decide to stop in Lakeland and grab some food (I had missed dinner). Best of all I got to see an old friend at the Applebees there (they were the only place open at 11pm in Lakeland).

The ride netted me over $64 and it cost the riders about $84. So win-win there. the bad? It was about $25 in gas as the Envoy is a gas hog.

The Downright Ugly...

I don't mind being around drunk people and most of them that get rides from me are the "happy drunks". They aren't belligerent or difficult to deal with and I am glad to take them where they are going because them being in the back of my Envoy means they are not out on the road next to me and driving while intoxicated.

Then there was this ride. Downtown St Pete. Three girls in their mid 20's. All the them nice looking and all of them are intoxicated.

One of them, the ride-requester, is actually almost sober and is sitting in the front passenger seat next to me.
The other two are in the back seat and are pretty drunk. One of them is the type of drunk that is impossible to deal with, the Angry Drunk.

She (the angry drunk) makes comments about how bad uber drivers are and that you can't trust them, then then starts an argument with the other girl in the back seat about how bad a mom she is. The other girl fires back the same accusation at the angry drunk and the argument escalates from there about "who is the worst mother". (Meanwhile, I'm trying to drive and I'm thinking they are both pretty bad mothers as they are out at 3am and so drunk they cannot control themselves as all)

Thankfully, after just a few blocks, we reach the first stop and it's the Angry-Drunks drop off point. She however wants to continue the argument and will not exit the vehicle. I ask her nicely several times to stop fighting and please exit my car. She ignores me and keeps doing verbal jabs at the other girl in the back seat.

After about two minutes of this crap, I threaten to call St Pete Police to have her forcibly removed from my car since she is being belligerent and refusing to get out. Thankfully, at this point, her boyfriend (who appears sober) comes to the rescue from her house and drags her out of my vehicle all while apologizing to me and the other riders about his drunk girlfriend's behaviour.

I take the other two riders to their homes, a fairly long ride to some apartments near Countryside mall. The are upset and crying and sobbing the whole way there, and get this, the argument is continuing via text messages on their phones. And the worst of all this was no tip despite me having to endure the cat fight with atomics that happened in my back seat.

Epilog

So there you have it, the good, the bad and the ugly.
Thankfully, I have only had two trips I would consider "ugly".
I like driving for Uber and will continue in the future.

Korg sends