Uber themes

There is an odd phenomenon where some nights will have themes tied to them. Something that occurs more than a couple of times and is unique to the night. Tonight was basketball hoops. It started because I kept driving around them in the street, which is where you put them in the city when you don't have a driveway. I think it was 3 while in KCMO, when I got to Independence and saw another one and it clicked that was the theme. When my next passenger told me he was the house with the basketball hoop I chuckled to myself. The last passenger had 2 more on her 5 min route. I know that once you notice something you tend to notice it more, but it does take something to make you realize what's happening. Then for a passenger to say it after I had already thought this. No passenger has ever said "the house with the basketball hoop" before, it had to be tonight.

In the early days I was doing themes every night because it was all new and things stood out more. But there is this thing that's happened a handful of times where I'll be in the same neighborhood twice in a week that I've never been in before or since. It sounds reasonable at first because I'm going to pick up passengers nearby, but I'm talking about going there, then going completely away, across state lines or even the next days shift, then coming back. In two cases I was within 3 houses. I mentioned this to the passengers both times, but they seemed indifferent, oh well haha, just the algorithm playing with me.

Uber passenger categories

Well blog, it's been awhile and I'm not going to catch you up just yet, but life sure has changed since we last talked.

For this post I want to talk about categories of people that ride share. I started driving not really knowing what to expect and there has been a lot of interesting things I've learned.

It's not all drunk people. That was my original expectation for this, but even after 10pm it's not everyone. It's primarily people commuting to and from work and that's at any hour. I'm not hiding the answer at the end, I'm not that kind it writer, just sharing my experience.

It comes down to a simple question, why doesn't someone drive themselves? Well, not having a car or license is a big factor. Being intoxicated is another. Not having a car doesn't mean not owning one though, people might be on business and not from this city. In the case of most other ride share drivers including my own reasons for using Uber my car is in the shop. 

There are also those that simply choose not to drive based on the trip, such as driving and parking at the airport is a hassle, driving downtown and finding parking is tedious. I have to agree that driving downtown doesn't bother me nearly as much since I'm not parking, but maybe just throwing on flashers and blocking a lane :).

Jumping back to the not having a car category, this breaks down a lot I've learned. I originally thought this was financial and people were working to get a car, but it's more than that. I've picked up at least 3 people that have had their car stolen, 1 where it happened an hour before while they were at work. 2 were Kias, go figure.

People not having a license ranges from DUI to elderly where both complain about missing the freedom that driving themselves offered. "You don't know how trapped you feel in your own home." one lady remarked. "I have a car, a 2013 Impala, I really like it and I'm retaking the test after I get a doctor's note to try to get my license back" she clarified.

Another was working with his attorney, he had lost custody of his kids, his job, his license and his car when he got a DUI with possession and went to jail. He's been out for 6mo now and his new job is going well. His attorney is working on partial custody pro-bono, which he had just found out that morning and was ecstatic. I hope things are going better for him, he seems like a good person.

One group had just wrecked their car and needed to get home.

It's not a scientific study by any means, just observations from people that share their story. It's perspective I didn't have before this adventure and there are lots of good people trying they're best to pull themselves up one day at a time.