Dearest people of the Uber lands, the GPS is no bueno. Please don't rate me poorly. I did not engineer the gps, though I think I'm just gonna ask other people to direct me from now on because I can't think of any other reason I'd be rated badly besides for other red face drivers being dumb and almost killing me, getting lost, or the gps taking me to an alley to pick up passengers. I'm unfortunately not a human map and still trying to learn directions 102. I've also only been rideshare driving since Mid January and only been doing it full time since Early February. I'm still a newbie and am trying to find ways to better myself as a driver. Thankfully I have my lovely friend at home to give me pointers because he's been driving full time for 8 months. I hope my gender doesn't affect my ratings. I have had some people be surprised when they saw a "25 year old white girl" driving their Uber. I've been in a couple Ubers and several taxis and I think all of my drivers were of minority status (and 2 females) for my Ubers and I've had all foreign taxi drivers except 1 male who looked to be in his 30s who wanted some extra money, a man in his 40s or 50s when I went to see Muse in January, and someone know in Belegarth (another Caucasian male) who just started taxi driving too. I wonder if there are any other common folk females like me who drive for Uber or Lyft. Wherever you are, come find me!
I was giving someone a ride last night and he was surprised when his driver was an average Joe Caucasian woman. I told him I've sometimes had to drive in circles in the loop due to getting lost/gps spaz attacks. I keep my Garmin on hand if needed, but he thought I could have been a "dirty foreigner" because of my ratings. Nope. This person ended up giving me a friendly neighborhood tip for my customer service. Maybe I'll just stay in the burbs or city outskirts for awhile. It seems like there's a different attitude suburban people carry vs city folk. The suburban people seem more easy going/laid back. I also received 3 tips last night and all 3 of them were on trips starting from picking someone up in the burbs. I don't care too much about ratings, but I'm self conscious about it.
Someone else noticing also made me feel kind of wonky. But it's not a big deal. When people talk to me they'll see my personality shine through! I feel like some people also get thrown off when I have to pick up another rider in the middle of the route for a "pool". The people from Uber definitely had more adverse reactions than Lyft. They'd wonder where I'm going and think I'm lost. I end up ditching the additional passenger most of the time, but I think I should clearly explain the Uber Pool to people to avoid them being thrown off guard and thinking I'm being a clueless mc driver.
I had some directional difficulty getting from Grand/Franklin to 290 no thanks to the gps and ended up in Forest Park. Thankfully I'm familiar with the area over there and ended up getting flagged down for several rides all across the western burbs (Forest Park, Elmwood Park, Villa Park, Elmhurst, and even Schiller Park). I feel like the riders from the burbs are more friendly. Plus the gps doesn't act like a turd in the burbs or take me down alleys.
One other thing not to talk in my car: about your stomach flu misventures, drinking too much/getting sick misadventures, and how you're a bad "thrower upper". These people were forsure drunkity drunk, but I was amused and lucky I'm not extremely squeamish. Another lady I drove earlier needed an advil because she had never had period cramps before. Lucky you I carry that stuff on me because of my hormones and random outbreaks of cramps. I hope you feel better! I also hope you, Mr. Chef man I talked to, go enter a cooking contest. You'd definitely feel the positive sensation of taking a risk that's forsure. Not only that, but I also drove this couple to the Subterranean and they were mentioning about the 2 types of "red face men": slobbering dogs or snakes in the grass. My last boyfriend was definitely a snake in the grass! I even found out a tip for my casino bad luck. If someone sat on the slot machine seat for awhile and didn't win any money, the odds of winning are in your favor. If the seat is cold they aren't in your favor because you'll be putting the money in for the next person or so to win.
I also ended up picking up middle school kids from Elmhurst. I also picked up a bunch of high school students from Elmwood Park who were amused by my laugh and snapchatted it to their friends. It made me want to lol! I would also like to give thanks for all of my passengers who gave me recommends for food and places to go in Wicker Park. I also had random experiences driving an Air Force vet to a hotel, some rich bitchy business people talking about their millions of dollars in sand and foreign clients, some people telling me about the NYC atmosphere vs here in Chicago, and an English couple who was telling me about English food and living in Atlanta vs the "conservative south" and here in Chicago. Apparently you can get cheap deals on flights if you're going on a weekend venture to another state? I want to visit all the states someday. I had a blasty blast at my birthday shenanigans! Driving so much sometimes makes me realize I need to go out and have fun sometimes. Except after I post this blog, I'm going to go drive some more until practice. Happy weekend everyone I hope you've had some fun! Here's to spring coming soon!
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