I do apologise to my readers. I have been rather sick lately. I haven’t felt well enough to write or delve into the depths of my experiences on the recent fruitful Friday. It was indeed a whopper. It had so many people and weird experiences I didn’t know where to start. Let’s start with my first passenger. Who might I add was a VIP rider. She needed a pickup so she could grab her car down in Bellingham. What seemed like a normal conversation at first she thought she’d share one of her friends experiences with Uber Eats. Well what can I say I was appalled at what happened to her friend. The normal Mexican food they order seemed a little on the light side, when after they had already tipped and gave the uber driver a 5 star rating, they hadn’t anticipate on the fact that more than half of the meal had been eaten. Devoured to the point of disgust! See the photo my VIP shared with me.
Can you believe this? I simply couldn’t . The Uber driver goes by the name of Jacob. Name and shame people. Either the restaurant decided to skimp on food or Mr Uber Driver decided he’d have a good old fashioned feed on his customers food. Is it because uber eats doesn’t pay well? Or is it because you have a hunger for other people’s food? Was it a joke to you? Maybe you shouldn’t deliver people’s food anymore…Either way I’d never do such a thing. Even when I was tempted to grab a chip or fry from a maccas bag. It’s a sealed bag. The only other thing I thought of is maybe on the way to the house a giant raccoon took a munch out it secretly then placed the lid back on securely. No bugger that! You know what you did Mr Uber Driver known as Jacob! Disgusting.
Anyway moving along. Enough of devoured meals. Let’s discuss my next passenger a former amateur MMA fighter turned IT parts salesman. He had been to Australia and Vegas to compete. Him and his son had flown in from Vegas. He said his money maker was copping a beating and decided to go a slightly different boring pathway. He had been knocked out a few times and sustained multiple concussions in his fighting career. It was interesting to discuss how he could have made the big time, but thought of his family instead.
Next was a firefighter who had just flew in from Vegas. He had specifically gone to a place 45 minutes away from the Vegas called Red Rock. It brought back uncomfortable memories of the first Aboriginal massacre site I ever went to as a part of a university field trip near Coffs Harbour. The people were marched off a cliff into the Pacific Ocean and the jagged rocks below. Men, women, and children. A deplorable act that made me realise how awful people can be. Growing up in Australia I wasn’t taught anything regarding Aboriginal people being slaughtered by the British. It was an uncomfortable awakening, but made research and seek out books pertaining to these tragedies. Blood on a Wattle is one book I recommend, but I warn you it’s confronting. You can call it Australia’s Auschwitz or Killing Field’s. In fact Australia was a continent of death. At least 270 frontier massacres happened in 140 years. How many people were killed? It’s estimated to be in the thousands at the moment, but there’s a study being conducted by the University of Newcastle, which has estimated there could be up to 500 massacres that happened in Australia from 1788 to the mid 20th century. Right now there’s a record of at least 6,200 people killed. I should mention that a massacre according to the article is six or more people. Not to mention the stolen generation, the breeding out the black, and a white Australia policy was certainly also on top of these massacres. The man in my car wasn’t exposed to too much of the information I presented here, but he believes that Red Rock’s namesake was due to it being the colour red, but he wasn’t sure. He knew that the native Americans also went through similar atrocities.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pri.org/stories/2018-07-27/historians-say-massacres-killed-thousands-australian-aborigines%3famp
Link to the study on Australian Aboriginal massacres
I dropped off the firefighter and needed to brighten my spirits for my next guest. She kinda did it for me though. This lady was from Arizona and visiting a friend. She used to be an accountant, but changed her career to become, get ready…A Christian scientist healer. Oh boy here we go. Christianity and science together in the same sentence. She goes around and tells people there’s an alternative to modern medicine. The power of healing through prayer. Oh geeze, is there a disclaimer for that? I tried to be diplomatic here and remembered when I was a child a spiritual church pastor said I had the gift of healing. As a child I believed it. As an adult it’s honestly BS. I can’t heal my own damn peanut allergy. She went on about success cases, but they weren’t dramatic like the cure of cancer or Johnny the paraplegic is now a marathon man. Modern actual science has stopped my own grandfather from heart disease from winning twice now. He’s over 80 and is not a God fearing man. In fact his mind is still incredibly sharp. Same with my other grandfather for that matter. I do honestly think the pharmaceutical companies need to make products more cost effective and be regulated by the government, but that’s another story. Any I dropped off the miracle worker off at her destination. As I was driving off I smirked and said thank you God for presenting me with this lady, couldn’t help but think of Benny Hinn that religious kook that has a TV show where the sick person convulses and drops to the floor after he touches them 🤣😂.
Then a former Marine Corps chap and his wife graced my car. The gentleman had been in there for 20 years. Him and his wife started their own business chartering boats and what not.
After dropping them both off at a restaurant I picked up three Thai students. As in they were from Thailand. We chatted about Thailand including their language and culture. I said hello in Thai to them and they loved it. Each of the students were studying different subjects. Computer science, journalism, and art.
As I dropped the Thai riders off at a sushi restaurant. I picked up a lady from the same restaurant. She is a cancer carer. Basically cares for cancer patients in their time of need.
Next was a software engineer. That’s really all I can say about this guy.
Once I dropped him off I got two people from Alaska who needed a Lyft to go to their shrimp trawler. They were hammered. The lady talked my ear off about Australia, until the guy eventually broke his silence. “You uber?” He asked. His wife interjected “this is Lyft honey”. I said “well I drive for both”. He then tried to put several words together in his drunken state slurring every word. “My details don’t work for uber anymore, can you help me?” I replied “I don’t think I can, have you tried talking to customer service?” “Yes.” “Well I can see if I can look I to it for you, but I recommend emailing them again.” Maybe he was banned? I honestly couldn’t help him, but they did take waters and sweets from me, so that’s bloody good.
Next was a singer by night and Baker by day. Apparently she sings Irish music in town, which got me a little excited because I do love Irish music. She invited me to karaoke, which I respectfully declined. Nope, my voice is currently dying and I’m not much of a singer.
Next was lady who went to New Zealand a few years back. She thought I was a kiwi at first. The lady hired a guy down there and told me this wonderful story about T-boneing a milk truck. It was entirely her fault and was surprised at how little her insurance payment was considering she totaled her hire car. The cops gave her and her friend a lift to their destination. Such kind people the kiwis. I’m pretty sure us Aussies would have assisted them in such a terrible accident. I couldn’t help think about how much milk was lost in the accident. Don’t cry over spilt milk is a great old saying, but pretty sure that situation is worth crying over.
My next passenger was a Laotian lady, prior to me picking her up I had a strange glitch associated with app. I could not see where I needed to head towards. It was frustrating, but eventually it sorted itself out. Anyway the lady told me she was from Laos because I said I was Australian. She doesn’t go back to Laos very often. I mentioned I never got to go there because I ran out of time and money when I went to SE Asia in 2007. We talked about the culture and the new archaeological finds being uncovered there. Including the ones being researched by Professor Dougald O’Reilly. Probably the coolest Canadian man I’ve ever met. Fond memories of him zipping around on a motorcycle in Cambodia. Heading towards the infamous Preah Vihear Angkorian ruins. The site even had a library, meanwhile I was stuck on the back of a truck with an armed Cambodian police man and a French archaeologist. The dust was incredibly thick and intense, everyone outside wore a krama or face mask to stop dust being inhaled.
After dropping her I had yet another IT specialist.
Then more students. One was studying anthropology and I subsequently gave him my LinkedIn address so he can contact me if he continues. I have many contacts worldwide and am happy to give advice when needed. Yes I’m a ride share driver at the moment, but archaeology is all I’ve known career wise for 10 years.
Next was a lady who loved my sweets and praised them. All uber drivers should have them.
Then there was a Persian. Told him about all the Iranian people I’ve had in my car and how difficult it is for them in the USA. Told him about the lady who went to Peace Arch to see her family because they’re not allowed in the US, but peace arch is considered neutral territory.
Ne
xt was a dude 14 minutes away. He was in Ferndale. He was hammered. The guy rang me three times trying to figure out where I was. Every time he rang I responded with whatever time was showing on the app. 13 minutes, 10 minutes, 6 minutes. Crickey calm down! Not my fault I was the only uber driver available in the area at the time. The bloke was hard to understand on the phone, but when I found him on a bench, I could understand him perfectly. He sat in my car and his house was 5 minutes away from where I picked him up from. The chap would shake my hand on occasion if he liked what he heard. He loved that I was an Aussie. As I rocked up to his house I reminded him yet again to take water and sweets if he wanted. This bloke started talking about how good his water is. That he has Japanese technology that filters his water and puts HP into it. Think he meant pH levels in the water. Apparently it’s a million dollar idea and it’d take off here soon. The man Invited me in for a beer, which I declined then he asked me if I was bisexual. Um no. Definitely not. The guy was extremely drunk, but slurring his words and speaking gibberish. Wanted to know more about this million dollar idea regarding water though. The guy tipped me $20.
After escaping this future millionaire, I got a ping at the Silver Reef Casino. I drove all the way out there and my passenger was nowhere to be found. It was a Lyft passenger, which gives them 5 minutes to show up or they get charged $5 & I get the whole thing. I drove around the casino and couldn’t track them down. So after 7 minutes I cancelled on the passenger. I started to drive back to the freeway, so I could go home. Driving on the pitch black road I saw a man on the side hitchhiking. Sorry mate you gotta pay. Then I went to hit the freeway. Ping! That damn passenger I had before. The no show. Ok fine, I’ll give you one last chance and then I’m going home. That hitchhiker had disappeared. Did I see a ghost or did the guy get picked up? Drove into the valet parking area at the casino. Nope no one. 5 minutes passes by. I try ringing them, prior to this I had rung them probably 8 times with no answer before I gave up. This time I rang them twice. Next thing you know there they were! They tipped me what I thought was a $10 note straight away and thanked me for coming back. They had just won $2000 at the casino. Nice one, no wonder it took you so long! Fair Dinkum! The lady I had picked up once before when I first started, she remembered me getting fired and started doing uber. She works at a dessert pie place in Bellingham. Her other half works at the BP refinery. Her family is British in origin and discussed about the playful bickering that happens frequently in her family. I said “Yeah that happens a lot in mine too actually”. As we rolled up there driveway she gave me a $20 note as a tip. “Wow cheers, you didn’t have to that!” “No you came back for us and had to put up with us”. “It wasn’t a problem”. They departed my car and stumbled up the wooden steps to their house. Looking down at my cash tips. It was at least $60 there. Wait that lady gave me two $20s! Wow OK bed time.
10 rides Lyft 11 trips Uber. Till next time. Oh by the way Lyft sent me my weekly feedback. Uber ratings follows See below:
