The Bay Bridge

My first night as a rideshare driver was a success. After my expenses, I made more than what I made as an hourly retail manager. This whole driving thing was becoming more and more appealing. Just think, no boss, no schedule, and no planning my life six weeks in advance to be able to be there for my kids when they needed me. I could really get behind this. But the responsible adult in me knew I couldn’t just quit my job and go all in without exposing myself to all the different elements of ridesharing. Coincidentally, I had taken a week of paid time off from work thinking I would look for something with a more stable, traditional schedule. But now I could use this whole week to prove to my “concerned” husband (concerned that I had lost my mind) that I could make this work.

We live in a bedroom community about 75 miles from San Francisco. Some of you non-Californians might not even believe that people would live so far away from their job and commute that far every day. After all, with traffic, it can take HOURS to make it to the city. That is our reality. That is also the reason that I am able to make a living driving Uber and Lyft. And now it’s the reason that I set my alarm really early a couple days a week.

I woke up before everybody in my family and headed to the bay. My goal was to find a rider on their way over the Altamont but it didn’t work out. Once I made it over the hills I started picking up riders. They were all going to the BART station. That is the train into the city and around the whole Bay Area. One rider stands out in my mind because while I was on the freeway on-ramp he was repeatedly yelling something I couldn’t understand because of his accent. Turns out it was “CARPOOL LANE!” Once I figured it out I just apologized and took his advice. After about five or six riders doing the same, I got one that flashed on my app as over 45 minutes! Score! I went and picked him up and he was going to the Oakland airport. My dream had come true. After all, you don’t get paid unless somebody is in the car, so this was a whole 45 minutes of pay. This was worth getting up at 5:00.

I picked him up and he was super nice. I was stressed of course because it was commute time, traffic was backed up, I was trying to follow my GPS, and now I had a stranger in my car with a flight to catch. The pressure was on. We made it, I did it. Everything was great. Until I realized that before the first guy ever got out of my car I had another rider already lined up. I circled the airport trying to find him. During that first loop, a second rider was added to my list! I finally found them (Oakland International is the easiest to Uber with so it just took me one extra loop). They got in my car and a third rider was added. I started heading to the third rider who lived in a tough part of town.

We went over giant potholes and huge hills on the roads. We hit one so hard my phone flew off its stand. I finally found her waiting on the sidewalk. Once she got in the car I realized it: we were going to downtown San Francisco. No pressure. Just three strangers in my car driving with hundreds of other cars over a bridge (did I mention I’m terrified of heights?!) into the city traffic that all these people were willing to pay someone else to drive in so they didn't have to. NBD. Oh yeah, and I had to pee. There are no bathroom breaks from Uber and Lyft; only when you turn the app off and stop taking riders, which can be tricky to set with people in your car.

Soon we made it out of Oakland and on to the freeway. I merged like a champ, I made all the right lane changes, and nobody could even tell I was scared to death. By that point, I had told them all I was new so they were very patient. Then we made it onto the Bay Bridge. I got through the toll booth and out over the water. I was nervous and shakey from not eating. I was scared of looking down and so I just looked out over the water. That's when it dawned on me: Driving Uber can be so amazing! I get to wake up every day and start a new adventure. I don’t know where I am going or who I will meet. I’m sure it won’t always be nice. I know I will have some scary people and ugly scenery. But if I just occasionally get to drive over the Bay Bridge on a gorgeous sunny day and look out and see the sparkling water and the beautiful city AND get paid for it, then my life is good! Working in retail, as much as I truly loved it, never provided me such big adventures and beautiful views!

I continued into the city and dropped off my three riders. If you thought driving downtown was rough, imagine letting people out at the appropriate places with their luggage. Towards the end of the ride everybody offered their words of encouragement. The woman in my front seat said, “I ride Uber all the time. You’re doing great. Don’t worry about being just right. Drivers miss turns and come back around to where they need to be and nobody cares. You’re a good driver.” I told her to pass that on to my husband because we’ve been debating that topic for years. She laughed.

I wish I could tell you that I stayed in the city and saw the sights, or found an amazing restaurant, or met up with one of my city friends, or even Ubered all over the city and made hundreds of dollars. But I didn’t. I found the nearest McDonald’s because I was hangry and tired from waking up at 5:00am. I called Caleb and the kids and sent a few text messages to friends and family declaring that I unexpectedly took a trip to San Francisco with three strangers and I was still alive. I looked at my app to see how much money I had made. I did the math and figured I could go home by myself and still have made enough. I experienced enough that morning to believe that I could leave my comfort zone and survive. I could even get good at this. (You should see me on the Bay Bridge now!) Then I set my GPS and drove home with no riders because that was enough adventure for one day, even for me.