Shrek the Musical was playing at the Zilker Hillside Theatre and I received a request near that area. There was no rider at the indicated pick up spot so I called. The rider said they were at some apartments 1 block over. I circled around and found no apartments and no rider. I continued on and got a call from the rider saying that I had just gone past them. I did a U-turn and went back the way I came and saw nobody. Made another phone call and was at the place they said they were and no one was there. The rider ended up cancelling the ride a few moments later.
Only seconds after the ride was canceled another request came in with the same location. This one was a female and instead of driving around in circles again I called her to find out where she was. As she answered the phone I looked to my right and she was right beside my vehicle. We both made silly hand gestors related to the blatant obviousness of the location, and she got into the vehicle. We immediately connected and a chain of very interesting conversations started and continued all the way to the drop off location over near Riverside and Pleasant Valley. It was an amazing connection. I later noticed that she had added me as a Preferred Driver raising my client count up to 12.
Just as always, I try to make my way home and never make it. It was after 1:00am and I was hungry so Whataburger taquitos were sounding really good. I was headed out of downtown and received a request from someone in the UT campus area. I wasn't too far away and made it to the indicated address in a short period of time. There was no one there and it was a parking lot in a back alley. I called the rider and they told me where they were, which was not where the app indicated. It was close and I turned onto a side street and headed that way. Only seconds later the rider calls back and asks where in the hell I was and why it had taken over 20 minutes when he had "dropped the pin" in the exact location. I informed him that the indicated location was not the location where he was at and that it had not taken more than 20 minutes from the time I had received the request. He continued talking at me as if I was an employed servant. I told him not I was only 2 minutes away and then turned into the parking lot 15 seconds later. He saw my vehicle and came around to get in without any of his previously disrespectful tones. I took him to his destination and upon closing out the ride, felt obliged to give him a negative rating, which I did. This was the first time in over a year of rideshare driving that I have given anyone a negative rating. There is no reason for someone to act like a fucking prick and certainly not towards someone such as myself.
If I would not have been pissed off at the previous ride I probably could have enjoyed the upcoming ride much better. I received a request from Rock Rose street in the Domain just as I had the night before. Upon arrival I indicated that I had arrived and made a pass down the street not gaining anyone's attention that might be waiting for a ride. Upon the 2nd pass I texted the rider to let him know I had arrived. Moments later I received an answer to the text and a phone call at the same time. The person calling was a female and stated that she was the one to be picked up. She said she had a glow stick and was having it from the curb. I saw her ahead and could not believe my eyes. As I stopped and she was coming around to get in, I reviewed the text from the requestor of the ride as it had become clear that he would not be the actual rider. The text said "She's outside Dogwood." "Tall hot Hispanic chick." He was telling the truth. "No fuckin shit", I said to myself as she got into the passenger side of the vehicle. "I have got to get the fuck out of here" she said.
I started the ride and there was no drop of location. She said she was going to the Yellow Rose and asked if I knew where that was. I told her that of course I did and away we went. She was very antsy and at one point in the trip grabbed my forearm and ran her hand up to the inside of my elbow in a moment of anxiousness. She asked about me and what I do to which I answered with a few general and vague things about myself. She kept commenting on how great she felt and could not wait to get to the Yellow Rose so she could have someone touching all over her body. I speculated to myself about what it was that had here feeling so good and what kind of day life she lived to support her obvious familiarization with the night life. She was a big party ready and waiting to happen and it would be an expensive party if one was going to take her on. Wow. What do girls like this do when they get older and their looks don't carry them as well? As good as this chick looked it would probably take until she was 80 for all of that to wear off. There is no way on earth I would want a lifestyle like the one I was perceiving that she had, in fact its kind of a bummer thinking about what her perceived priorities are. Still, I could not help but wonder about her life style. And what is going on with these night ending trips from Rock Rose to a gentleman's club?
I turned off the app and made my way to a Whataburger. As I pulled up I received a text from one of my crew at work saying that there had just been a shooting on 6th street. I read information about the shooting on the Internet while I was thoroughly enjoying my taquitos.
Sunday, July 31, 2016
Saturday, July 30, 2016
07/28/16
Met my $100 goal for weekdays. Made the biggest mistake of my ridesharing driver career today. I had a request from a female and was having trouble finding her and the pick up spot. I pulled into a parking spot for the LUX valet service to get an idea of where she was when a guy comes up to my window and is waving at me. I thought it was the valet guy so I waved him off and then vacated the parking spot. I called the rider to ask where she was. She said she would have someone call me, which I thought was a little strange. The caller called and then asked if I was the rideshare driver and if I was the one who had pulled away a few moments earlier. "Shit!" I said to myself and then began to profusely apologize for leaving him standing on the curb. I then saw the rider again and picked him up. I continue pouring out apologies to which the rider stated not to worry.
Everything seemed fine and as we reached the drop of spot the rider stated that this would be a little uncomfortable for him but he had to ask me a question. He asked if he had scared me at the pick up spot and if that was why I had left. I answered that no, he had not scared me but that I was expecting a female rider and being that I was parked in one of the LUX spots, I thought he had come to park my car. He seemed to accept that and thanked me for the ride. I found the question a little strange but thought maybe he had a complex of some kind and felt he needed to know to get some sort of piece of mind.
Everything seemed fine and as we reached the drop of spot the rider stated that this would be a little uncomfortable for him but he had to ask me a question. He asked if he had scared me at the pick up spot and if that was why I had left. I answered that no, he had not scared me but that I was expecting a female rider and being that I was parked in one of the LUX spots, I thought he had come to park my car. He seemed to accept that and thanked me for the ride. I found the question a little strange but thought maybe he had a complex of some kind and felt he needed to know to get some sort of piece of mind.
07/29/16
The riders of the Austin night have left me in deep thought. The demand took me deeper into the night than any night has before. The atmosphere in the vehicle had started out with clueless and baseless arrogance, and had ended in almost overpowering machismo-ism. In between those two extremes, was everything else.
It can be mentally taxing when there is a wide span of different personalities, especially when they are as diverse as the ones experienced tonight. It is also incredibly interesting to be constantly bringing out different components of my own personality as I attempt to connect with the rider and create a friendly and comfortable atmosphere in the vehicle. An atmosphere of trust and confidence.
The first riders actually gave me a headache from the conversations they were having as I was taking them to a wedding in south Austin. All of the "as ifs" and "I was like" followed by the pause where one has to fill in the blank of what is being referred to. Terrible conversational skills from two beautiful and obviously well-off in life, ladies. The wedding location looked to be very cool.
I had my first verbal cancellation from a lady because it had taken too long to get there. I did not like this at all. I had circled the indicated pick up spot 3 times and even parked once. The lady had made no attempt to make herself visible in the pick up area even after calling her twice and describing my vehicle to her. She said she had not used rideshare before and it was certainly apparent. In an incredible coincidence, the moment she canceled her ride another person at the same spot requested a ride. There was no problem in picking them up.
I was tired and on my way home knowing that I had not achieved my money goal for the night, when I received a request near 183 and McNeil. I was at the exit and made a smooth transition over to the right lane and then slid silently down the exit ramp. I picked up the 2 young gentlemen and took them east to the Techridge area where I dropped them off knowing that I had ended up reaching my $100 goal for the day after all. While checking the earnings in the Fare app, I received a request from someone to be picked up at the Domain. I had forgotten to turn the app off and I am typically not one to decline ride requests. I accepted and saw that the pick up was at a cool and happening new area of the Domain on a street called Rock Rose. I arrived at about 1:40am as closing time for the clubs was approaching, and picked up 2 gentleman who had been partying and were not ready for the night to end. The gentlemen carried with them a very strong presence that prompted me to opt for the more masculine aspects of my personality while conversing with them. It was not much of a surprise that they were discussing continuing the night at a strip club. Their original destination request was the Yellow Rose, a well know gentleman's club on North Lamar. For some reason that destination was vetoed and the totally nude XTC club was selected. We arrived and the place was alive with both activity and the lighting on the outside of the building. As the passengers were unloading, one of them turned and invited me to go with them. I had the quick and calm answer of, "its tempting but no thanks", but inside I knew that it would have been one hell of a time had I accepted.
I turned off the app, checked my earnings and surrendered the deep night to the remaining drivers that I knew were out there somewhere in the dark, ready to respond to the next request.
It can be mentally taxing when there is a wide span of different personalities, especially when they are as diverse as the ones experienced tonight. It is also incredibly interesting to be constantly bringing out different components of my own personality as I attempt to connect with the rider and create a friendly and comfortable atmosphere in the vehicle. An atmosphere of trust and confidence.
The first riders actually gave me a headache from the conversations they were having as I was taking them to a wedding in south Austin. All of the "as ifs" and "I was like" followed by the pause where one has to fill in the blank of what is being referred to. Terrible conversational skills from two beautiful and obviously well-off in life, ladies. The wedding location looked to be very cool.
I had my first verbal cancellation from a lady because it had taken too long to get there. I did not like this at all. I had circled the indicated pick up spot 3 times and even parked once. The lady had made no attempt to make herself visible in the pick up area even after calling her twice and describing my vehicle to her. She said she had not used rideshare before and it was certainly apparent. In an incredible coincidence, the moment she canceled her ride another person at the same spot requested a ride. There was no problem in picking them up.
I was tired and on my way home knowing that I had not achieved my money goal for the night, when I received a request near 183 and McNeil. I was at the exit and made a smooth transition over to the right lane and then slid silently down the exit ramp. I picked up the 2 young gentlemen and took them east to the Techridge area where I dropped them off knowing that I had ended up reaching my $100 goal for the day after all. While checking the earnings in the Fare app, I received a request from someone to be picked up at the Domain. I had forgotten to turn the app off and I am typically not one to decline ride requests. I accepted and saw that the pick up was at a cool and happening new area of the Domain on a street called Rock Rose. I arrived at about 1:40am as closing time for the clubs was approaching, and picked up 2 gentleman who had been partying and were not ready for the night to end. The gentlemen carried with them a very strong presence that prompted me to opt for the more masculine aspects of my personality while conversing with them. It was not much of a surprise that they were discussing continuing the night at a strip club. Their original destination request was the Yellow Rose, a well know gentleman's club on North Lamar. For some reason that destination was vetoed and the totally nude XTC club was selected. We arrived and the place was alive with both activity and the lighting on the outside of the building. As the passengers were unloading, one of them turned and invited me to go with them. I had the quick and calm answer of, "its tempting but no thanks", but inside I knew that it would have been one hell of a time had I accepted.
I turned off the app, checked my earnings and surrendered the deep night to the remaining drivers that I knew were out there somewhere in the dark, ready to respond to the next request.
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
07/02/16
First ride at 8:52pm although I turned the app on at 5:22pm. Last ride at 12:18am with a total of 9 rides. That will be all for this week and it was a good week with 27 total rides and $310.20.
Had a couple of military aircraft pilots, one of which was a trainer. One of them flew the T6 and the other flew the T38.
A couple of ladies were discussing things that were of no interest to me but I did acquire a couple of good terms.
When passion turns to obsession When justice turns to vigilante ism
07/27/16
I literally paid my way home from work today as the first ride was from downtown out to near Windsor and Mopac and the second ride was one my way starting at Mesa and Spicewood Springs going all the way to Anderson Mill and Parmer.
Had an interesting conversation with a gentleman that had somewhat similar free time experiences as a kid, to those that I had growing up. I began thinking about all of the different "worlds" that we all come in contact with in our daily lives. Whole lifetimes of experiences right in front of us and we have know idea of the knowledge, achievements, thrills and heartbreaks that are only inches from us. Even in the most in-depth conversations that may occur in passing, we are only exposed to these other worlds for a few moments. Perhaps we will have the privilege of gaining some small piece of knowledge or experience from their world. Perhaps it will be something that changes our lives for the better. Perhaps it will be something that allows us to make better decisions. Regardless, the interaction does add information to the overall database in our mind and therefore modifies who we are even if it is a microscopic modification.
Had an interesting conversation with a gentleman that had somewhat similar free time experiences as a kid, to those that I had growing up. I began thinking about all of the different "worlds" that we all come in contact with in our daily lives. Whole lifetimes of experiences right in front of us and we have know idea of the knowledge, achievements, thrills and heartbreaks that are only inches from us. Even in the most in-depth conversations that may occur in passing, we are only exposed to these other worlds for a few moments. Perhaps we will have the privilege of gaining some small piece of knowledge or experience from their world. Perhaps it will be something that changes our lives for the better. Perhaps it will be something that allows us to make better decisions. Regardless, the interaction does add information to the overall database in our mind and therefore modifies who we are even if it is a microscopic modification.
Friday, July 1, 2016
07/01/16
First ride at 5:49pm. Last ride at 10:22pm with a total of 10 rides.
The town felt dead tonight. There were people out and about and I reached my quota by 10:30pm but it felt dead. Saw a pedicab chick with some really good marketing tools.
6/30/16
4 rides within about an hour and a half.
Picked up three ladies in the Rollingwood area who were going downtown for diner. One of them told about a male acquaintance who had a funny incident with his auto-correct function when sending texts. He did not notice until after the damage was done.
He apparently was a manager of a shipping and receiving dock somewhere and reported to his boss via text message throughout the day. The problem was that every time he texted the word "dock", the auto correct function was changing it to the word "dick". One of the messages that the lady shared, was a message that he had sent to his boss at the end of the day. The message was supposed to say, "dock is cleaned and I am ready to go."
6/26/16
An afternoon thunderstorm had rolled in and it was pouring down rain. I was leaving my real job and had turned on the FARE app while still in the parking garage. As my vehicle climbed up the last ramp before once again coming in contact with the outside world, I got a ping for about 4 blocks away.
The rain had just about completly stopped as I spotted the riders and begin trying to find a close-by spot to pull over and carry out the pick up. Once they were inside, it was immediately evident that this was going to be a fun ride. Indeed it was. We told silly jokes and laughed the whole trip. I shared with the gentlemen in the passenger seat, the "Hair Nation" story from a previous rider. He busted out in laughter and asked me if it looked like the girl had Buckwheat in a headlock. It was my turn to bust out into laughter as I had never heard anyone make that analogy about someone with hairy arm pits before.
5/29/16
Was driving Get Me and received a ping for an address out past Mansfield dam. I had to wait for a moment and then texted the rider that I had arrived.
He came out and got into the passenger seat in the front. He had obviously been drinking for a while and the first thing he blurted out was, YOU GOT ANY WEED? I thought to myself, "fuckin moron. He doesn't even know who I am and he is asking if I have any weed. Even if by some far fetched and extremely random coincidence that I had some, I sure as hell wouldn't give him any. Why don't you get out of my vehicle and go listen to your damn Lynard Skynard albums." Of course with my many years in the customer service business, I played along with his humor and let him lead the coversations for the 15 to 20 minute length of the trip and then he was gone. Probably forever.
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