Come Ride with Me

I took a friend to the airport today. She is returning home after bringing her son to his first year of college. Of course, 'tis the season for taking kids to school; however, a trip of 6000 miles to do so, is somewhat out of the ordinary.      I met my friend and her son just two days ago when I was pinged to the hotel where they were staying. They had in tow, three large suitcases, so I figured were bound for the airport. Wrong. I swiped the screen to start our trip and realized that instead of the airport, we were heading to the small college in the town where I live. A moment of dread washed over me. The past eight months, I have done everything possible to avoid the campus. It's still painful and when I can avoid pain - I go out of my way to do so (as I have the past many months).      Our 20 minute drive was filled with the usual conversation. I asked where they were from, about their trip, how long they would stay. As we neared the campus, I asked ...

There are all sorts of reasons to use Ride Share. Obviously, to get from one place to another when you are without a car or maybe don't have a driver's license; however there's another reason, which is not only wise but admirable. The person has, or plans to consume alcohol. RS drivers "serve and protect" their communities by often keeping those who have imbibed from getting behind the wheel of a car. Although it requires the ordering up of a ride, the saying "friends don't let friends drive drunk" is sometimes carried out by the ordering of a ride home for said friend. With that, I want to share a few other situations I have encountered on the subject. I'm pinged to pick up Meredith. It's mid-afternoon and she wants a ride to a sports bar. I know where it is and as we drive, I ask her about the significance of its name. She's not sure but makes a guess. We proceed to talk sports for a while (a very short while as I'm far from s...

One week after losing my job, I hit the road to Ride Share. My first day was typical of January in Iowa - cold. I set out with my coffee and cellphone, RS app open and online. About ten minutes into my drive, my phone makes a dinging sound - a strange graphic appears with a countdown, and I have my first ride request. Panic. 😬 I have 15 seconds to take action... I touch the screen, which was obviously all I need to do. My rider, Chrissy is 8 minutes away. I touch Navigate. The handy-dandy RS app then proceeds to direct me (both verbally and with a graphic onscreen map) to my rider's home address. It is an apartment complex but Ms.GPS guides me right to the front door. Chrissy comes out to the car with her two children in tow. "Good Morning," I say. "Hi!" replies Chrissy. "How are you today?" "OK, I think. This is my first day working, you're my first ride... ever" "Did you hear that kids? We're her first riders." They ...

I like to listen to audio-books. Many of the genres I enjoy – begin with a prologue.   If you skip the prologue and just jump into chapter 1, you lose some of the background of the story. Come Ride with Me is about my adventures and experiences as a Ride Share Driver (RSD). I’m neither a professional driver nor writer… so this may also be an adventure in writing and blogging. Six months ago, I found myself displaced from my employer of nearly 44 years (43 years 10 months and 16 days to be exact). Having just turned 64, I knew the odds of finding a comparable job or starting a new career were not in my favor. My vocational time clock was ticking and though I was eligible to draw social security, my DH and I had done enough financial planning to determine we weren’t ready to pull that trigger yet. I needed to find a job where ‘age’ didn’t matter and though I had spent the previous 16,028 days at a desk, I was open to anything. I might mention I was also using a cane, as I wa...