Come Ride with Me

If you recall the Eisenhower years, you probably also recall the advertising jingle:  "See the USA in your Chevrolet!"   If you have the song stuck in your head now, you are no doubt hearing the voice of the late  Dinah Shore . I could sing a rendition of this song about ride sharing, but I don't exactly "see" much of the country in my travels. What I hear though, are stories of passengers from all around the USA and World. You could say I 'travel vicariously' through my riders. I especially enjoy trips of long enough duration, to allow me to ask questions about their various states and homelands. There are several businesses in our Metro area that employ a great number of people from India. One of my early passengers was a young man who had only been in the United States for two months. I picked him up one winter morning to take him to work. Although I'm not a great judge of age, I would guess he was in his late 30's. We were having a nice v...

I will admit to being 'directionally-challenged'. So much so, I used to 'get lost' the first time I was bound for pretty much anywhere. It has been a lifelong battle. I have gone from spoken directions... "Go five miles and turn left the first road after the bridge" ... to reading road maps, to printing pages off Mapquest, to the miracle of GPS. The road maps and Mapquest worked best with a co-pilot - but the wonderful GPS verbally directs me to my destination without any other human intervention. As I said... a miracle. Ride Sharing simplifies navigation, in that both graphic and verbal directions are provided for picking up a passenger and delivering them to their destination. Sometimes, however... things can go wrong. Those blasted satellites screw up and the 'destination' is not where the passenger is waiting. The "Call Rider" feature on the driver's app not only allows me to connect with my passenger but also allows them to redirec...

It is not unusual to have a dozen rides in a day of RSD. As much as one ride can be the same as another, there are those that stand out... passengers I will long remember... conversations I cannot possibly forget. A few months ago, I was pinged to a fitness center late one Thursday afternoon. There, I picked up Rajesh, still wearing his ear buds - fresh from his workout. Rajesh is one of my many passengers from India, who lives and works in the local Metro area. I greet him as he gets in the back of my car and note on my phone, he isn't going very far. As we pull out of the parking lot, Rajesh asks if we can stop across the street so he can pick up some fast food to take home. I agree, but make him add the stop on his phone app. We pull into the restaurant. He says he prefers the drive-thru and the line is quite long, in spite of there being two lanes. As we wait to place his order, Rajesh says, "Can I ask you a question?"  What am I to say? I'm captive for severa...

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...