Umans of Uber

Crystal had a hipster look that I liked right away: ripped jeans, untucked plaid shirt with rolled up sleeves, Harry Potter glasses, and a gray felt fedora. Her straight blonde hair fell just below her shoulders. She was tall and looked like an athlete. I picked her up close to midnight outside a popular bar.… Continue reading Things Can Get Worse

Ramon’s friend walked him to the car and opened the door for him. “Get my buddy home safe, okay?” he said. “Of course. That’s what I do.” I looked in the rear-view mirror. “You okay, Ramon?” “I drank too much.” “I see. That happens. Are you feeling sick?” “I already threw up. I think I’ll… Continue reading The Best Puker

Who’s cooler, an F-18 pilot or a guitar player for Bruno Mars? I drove these two guys back-to-back last night. Austin was first. Black beard and black T-shirt, built like a high school wrestler, I took him from the Eagle’s Nest to his place at Chick’s Beach. I liked him right away. “Is driving for… Continue reading Two Cool Guys

Angelo was on his way home from Wanna B’s–a karaoke bar. “How was your night? Did you get your karaoke on?” I asked after he’d sat down in the front seat. “Shoo,” he shook his head, “Yeah, it was fine, I guess. It was a rough night. It’s been a rough week.” “Yeah? I’m sorry… Continue reading A Really Bad Week

Carlos smiled and waved as he crossed the street from his apartment to my waiting Uber. He was a young Latino man with some visible tattoos. He walked with a steady gait and greeted me with a slight accent as he climbed in back. “You got some music?” he asked. I had turned off the… Continue reading Going to Vegas!

Last night I drove home a very intoxicated male passenger who is friends with some of the SEALS involved in the recent tragic raid in Yemen. The following is exerpted verbatim. I’ll just post it without comment. Me: They’re saying fifteen women and children were also killed. Him: No. Nah. That’s  a f–ing… There was… Continue reading “It Sucks, But…”

Have you ever noticed that whenever someone does something indisputably heroic and gets on the news, they always deny being a hero? “You dove into icy rapids to pull that woman to safety! Does that make you a hero?” “No sir, I just did what anyone else would have done.” “You could have killed yourself pushing… Continue reading An Uber Rescue

Driving for Uber hasn’t exactly restored my faith in humanity (I’m not sure I ever lost it), but it has at least convinced me that decent people predominate in this world. Most of the people I drive are friendly, appreciative, honest and fun. But every now and then I get to meet someone really extraordinary.… Continue reading World Changer

Sometimes days will go by without an Uber story worthy of a blog post. But that doesn’t mean it’s boring. One thing I like about driving for Uber is the variety of experiences that can be had in a short time. Take the other night for example. It was slow overall. There were long stretches… Continue reading Unique Umans

I picked up two bros, call them Bill and Ted, from Venue on a Monday about midnight. Bill asked if I had an aux cord, which I do. This allows passengers to play their own music on my car stereo. Bill played songs mixed by some DJ he knows. It was poppy dance stuff, but… Continue reading The Rules