I hit my $1000 bonus today after about 51 hours of driving and 3 months of part-time Uber. I’m not sure if I’m happy or sad that I hit that milestone. How do I know if I was successful? Depends how you look at it.
It reminds me of what the two girls picked up from 24 hour fitness (ride #102) taught me about perspective. One described the bright crescent moon as a bright smile, however, the other thought it to be more like a clipped toenail. One could easily look at my experiment as being a blue collar, service industry driver shuttling people around making minimal money after gas, maintenance, and wear and tear on my car and own body.
However, I see my Uber adventure as a success.
- I was inspired to write a blog that’s possibly read by almost 5 people now. Maybe it will go viral and people will click on my bonus sign up reference code. (Earn at least $1,540 for your first 100 passenger trips in 30 days.. See how: https://drivers.uber.com/i/z9weuq9rngu8). I haven’t quite figured out if it was worth it from a financial perspective or if I’m just putting wear and tear on my car, myself, and my family.
- I have funny, interesting tales clinging on to 100 bay area riders if only for a brief moment of their lives. Sadly, every one of them made an impact on my life.
Earn at least $1,540 for your first 100 passenger trips in 30 days.. See how: https://drivers.uber.com/i/z9weuq9rngu8
Lyft driver sign up promotions are good too.
#96. Polite, merciful chuckles. Thank you young lady for laughing at my joke. Picked up a girl from Denny’s who smelled of alcohol early in the morning. She stuck to her phone mostly, but I attempted to make her laugh by sharing my initial thoughts when I first got to the pick up. When I arrived, there was a homeless looking guy in front. I shared that I was so glad to see her since I thought I was driving around a homeless guy. (No offense homeless guy)
#97. Young man’s ambitions to build upon Tesla experience. Picked up a gentleman from Tesla early morning who just worked a full shift assembling batteries. His phone was at 1% so he appreciated the extra charge in the car. At about $18 bucks an hour, it was interesting that I was driving him from Fremont to Oakland which costs about $20 bucks each way. This means 2 hours of your day pays for your transportation to have this job. I asked him if he was able to parlay this experience to more opportunities in other car companies. He said he didn’t think about that, but was going to start doing that.
#98. Getting to the church on time. Picked up young lady trying to get to the church on time. Kept to herself, except when she asked me to turn down the radio so she could use the phone. I of course obliged, but didn’t feel it necessary to turn the radio back on when she was off the phone. I overheard her on the phone say she was going with some fellow church-goers to get things set up.
#99. High schooler making ends meet. Next rider, was getting to work on a Sunday morning. She was tired and not looking forward to working all day. She was a junior in high school working weekends while she played defense on her soccer team.
My last few rides were in Berkeley after dropping off my niece at her college dorm. It was a whole ceremony for the family to send her off on this rite of passage in her first year away from home. On my way out, I thought it was funny that one of the students was being dropped off by an Uber. Thank you for sending me off to college Daddy and Mommy Uber. 😛
#100. German philosopher. Young German man in his first year as a PhD student in philosophy. I asked him why he didn’t go to Oxford. He responded that he went for undergrad. We talked a little bit how to be a good, successful driver.
#101. Dark Uber driver future. Next rider reminded me that it was only a matter of time until I got displaced. Given the activities to test out driverless cars in Pittsburgh, this is a depressing demise for future drivers.
#102. The moon is a clipped toenail. Perspective and framing. This pair of goals coming out of 24 hour fitness were heading home. We all noticed the bright moon and we admired it for a moment. One person said it reminded her of a smile while the other emphasized how it looked like a clipped toenail.
#103. Lost in translation. Two korean guys headed to a korean plaza in Oakland to get some good food. For most of the trip, they were conversing in korean. From time to time I would check in and the guy would respond in perfect English. Being bi-lingual, it’s always interesting to see a person switch languages back and forth.
#104. Fantasy football and the bonus. It took me a minute to realize I hit my bonus. I looked at my summary for the day while I was in between rides, but noticed that the amount said $1000 and something. My first reactions were 1) maybe there is an app bug, and then 2) I realized it must be the bonus.
I was driving a fella who just completed his Fantasy Football draft with his group of friends. It was a $10 buy-in. Typically you select a running back in the draft first so I learned that his first pick was David Johnson from the Arizona Cardinals. This running back had a strong fantasy football outing.
Earn at least $1,540 for your first 100 passenger trips in 30 days.. See how: https://drivers.uber.com/i/z9weuq9rngu8
Driving for Uber - Rideshare stories from California 