Driving south, the Pacific Northwest was putting on a show. The sun was beaming down through the trees, leaves were falling slowly, to the point where gravity didn’t exist. It’s as though the leaves were suspended above my head, tumbling in the wind without actually hitting the ground. Orange is the colour of the season. Autumn is the season where trees become naked, but the sun still bakes you through your windscreen ever so slightly. Especially if you’re lacking window tint. Ping! There it was my first passenger of the day.
A Japanese lady to the south of my position. An event coordinator for the Chrysallis Resort and Spa. She has been working there for four years. It honestly surprises me that I do get different people every day. A population of 90,000 people and I only get a couple of old faces a week. It’s honestly astounding. It’s really not one city I’m servicing or even one country, I’m servicing a whole planet if by chance they’re in the area crossing my path and just so happen to need a Lyft or uber. The lady in my car prepares events like weddings, conferences, birthdays, and meetings at the resort. It has been quiet lately, but apparently it comes in waves on how busy the resort can get. She would rather stay at home, but has to come in every day just in case someone wants to tour the resort. The lady told me her mother is Japanese and her father is from Seattle, she was born in Japan, but moved to Washington. The same place her father wanted to escape. She does visit Japan every two years to see her mum and dad. Her grandparents do still live in Washington State and makes an effort to see them as frequently as possible. “What a beautiful day, the Pacific Northwest is putting on a bloody show today”. I stated. “Yes it is”. She replied. It wasn’t a long ride, we were near the T intersection where the resort is situated. “Do you not drive?” I asked her, “No I’m scared of driving, it’s a little embarrassing, but I’m doing adult driving lessons to get used to it”. “Don’t be embarrassed, driving can be scary, but just like anything in life it’s all about confidence” I responded. She said “that’s a fair statement, I never had to worry about driving in Japan, it was so easy to get around. In the USA you need a car to get around, the public transport is awful”.
I dropped her off and she thanked me. Another customer to the north of me needed a ride. I waited for him to show up, and eventually he did in the nick of time. A student studying marketing and off to see a chiropractor. He wasn’t incredibly talkative, but he did tip me. I rolled up to the establishment and he left. I now has to turn around in the Carpark. It was one of those tiny parking lots. Unfortunately in my turn around I managed to scrape the bottom of my car over one of the concrete buffers usually found at the end of the parking spots. Oh the pain. Scraps, screech, arghhh! I’m sorry car, I’m so sorry 😢.
Next was a man who called himself TheZetsu1987. Um OK. I actually never found out his real name, but I found out he was a huge fan of Naruto. Apparently that’s a character he really likes. The man was a rather short with a full beard, but trimmed and appeared to pissed off at the world. The funny thing is I dropped off a lady at his house on fruitful Fridays who was a singer and is a Baker. I remember seeing this same man in a silk robe walk past the front door. I didn’t mention it in the previous blog, because I forgot about it. The man looked a diminutive Gerard Butler from the film 300. Except with a brown beard instead of a black beard. “I dropped off a lady here a few nights ago with groceries”. I mentioned “That was my wife”. He proudly stated. Ooo. It was stroppy and possessive this response. It was humorous for me, I don’t know why? I honestly don’t care if she is or not I’m not going to steal her. “Where are we off to?” I asked. “To celebrate my stepson’s birthday”. He replied. I heard him eat one the sweets and drink a water in the back. When I dropped him off he just left the rubbish behind, but he tipped me, so I wasn’t entirely annoyed. The man appeared to be angry at the world. He wasn’t shy though or reluctant to talk, he told me he works at the Bellwether Hotel.
After dropping him off I got a ping from a lady at the Bellwether Hotel. Uncanny. She had multiple stops. One to pickup her luggage and the other to grab a beer before getting a bus back to Seattle. She was from Minnesota not Mini Soda see below. My passenger was in town for an interview for a job specifically dealing non GMO food. I said “that’s fascinating”. We talked about various crops from bananas to avocados and the diseases that can effect each of these crops. GMO unfortunately does limit these diseases, because it can make certain fruits and vegetables resistant to funguses and outbreaks. You do lose some of the taste and flavour of GMO food. It was an interesting conversation and it was over too soon.
As I dropped her off at Fairdinkumhaven I got a ping from a guy named Jim. A CEO of a company who uses Artificial Intelligence to help find clients. He needed a Lyft to the airport. He was on the phone when I picked him up. I gestured to the center console of my car where the water and sweets were. He shook his head, but mouthed “thank you”. Driving I made sure my volume was down so he can talk corporate to one of his lackies on the phone. “The board will like that, yeah finance, clients, blah blah money”. Yep half of the 18 minute trip to the airport was him on the phone. He did sit in the front seat though, points for you. Then he hung up after saying his goodbyes to his employee. “Sorry, trying to get a deal with a new client is tough. Getting people to know what you want all the time is also hard”. He said. “I’m sure, what do you do Jim?” That’s how I found out about what he does. Then he told me this story that one time someone took his ride over him once at night. He remembers the car driving close to his position and then driving away in the opposite direction. He then rang the uber driver and said where are you? Obviously the driver was rather embarrassed that his actual passenger wasn’t in his car, that he had picked up some hitchhiker by accident. I always check. I call out the person’s name and make sure it’s my passenger. My passenger was going back to San Francisco. We discussed autonomous vehicles and the impact on drivers like myself.
He thanked me as I plonked him off at the airport. No tip though. Hmmm… wonder why? Maybe he’s a nontipper? Next passenger was a bloke called Nasty. Found out he didn’t mean to put that as his name on the app. It has now changed to his proper name. The man told me he is a land surveyor, but a private contractor. He lives in Washington but works in California. His main client is PG&E. Yeah the energy company who cut power to what I thought was 600,000 residents as a fire prevention. It was way over that. Last year a live wire started a fire and burned the city of Paradise to the ground. Part of his job is to help find safe routes for powerlines so fires won’t happen. Tough gig. No pressure.
Dropping off at his house I got another ping straight away. A lady who had a cake with her friend downtown. She has friends in Australia and picked up on my accent pretty quickly. Nice one. She was my final customer.
5 Lyfts 2 ubers. Lyft actually won the day. Not sure why? Till next time.
