THE FINAL RIDE: It's easy to remember that some of my best rides are the first or last ride of the day. This is the first time I will remember the last ride of the month. Sunday was a very slow day and as I approached 5 pm I had only 1 hour or so to drive and there was little chance of hitting my goal for the day. I picked up a guy at a bar and drove him home, it was a $5 ride. He did have plenty to drink, but we had a good conversation in the car and I could tell he was a pretty good guy. He lived on Ocean Blvd. and his backyard faced the water. It looked like a pretty normal family house with a large front and back yard.
Driving about 5-10 minutes away I heard beeping and realized he had left his phone in the car. Typically what happens is that I report it to Uber and they contact him and charge him $15 which goes to me and I return the phone. However, I knew where he lived and I was close by, so I went back. I rang the doorbell many times, knocked on the door and honked the horn, but I had no luck. I left him a note to call me. About fifteen minutes later his phone beeped a message to call him. He went back to the bar somehow to look for the phone. I headed back to the bar and had lost enough time to call it a night. At the bar, he thanked me and handed me some folded up bills. He gave me a $55 tip and wanted to know if he could do anything else for me. I was hungry, so I did wonder if I could get dinner out of this too,(maybe ribs?) but I didn't ask. Arriving at home I realized that he tipped me $5 for the ride also and on the last ride of the month I made $65 which was close to half of what I made for the whole day.
THE SHORTEST RIDE: The shortest ride I've ever had was a Texas couple I picked up at their hotel and they were going to a restaurant around the corner. It was close enough that I could have thrown a baseball and hit the building. They didn't know it was that close. Today I picked up a guy at a gas station and as I started the route I saw we were going to a Food Lion supermarket. I pulled out of the lot and turned right. Since the gas station was at that corner I went through the light and turned right immediately into the supermarket parking lot. It was obviously zero miles and the time of the ride was 1 minute and 6 seconds which seems long to me. The supermarket was just on the other side of the side street. I made $3 and the guy was nice enough to tip me for the ride. It can't get any shorter than that.
THE BUFFALO COMMENT: One of my favorite comments by a rider last year came from a woman from Buffalo, New York. Knowing how bad the weather is there in the winter I said, "how do you manage to get through the weather in the winter?" She replied, "Since the world is ending soon, we'll be okay in Buffalo." I had no idea what she meant and I changed the subject. A guy from Buffalo explained to me that there's a misconception about how bad the weather is in Buffalo and it's really not a big deal. He's heard the same comment from people and that's what the comment really means.
LEARNING ABOUT SOUTH AFRICA: I had a great opportunity to learn about South Africa from a couple who left there four years ago and are living in Washington DC and working for a finance company. They enjoy the city, but they do miss family and friends back home. What they miss most apparently is the animals, since South Africa is known for their variety of animals. I didn't learn this until after I suggested on their next visit they see the safari in Myrtle Beach. The couple both had the virus towards the beginning of the year and struggled with losing their taste buds. They are very grateful for the opportunity to both work at home since they traveled frequently in different directions and have spent a lot of time at home together. They also have taken the opportunity to travel around to different parts of the county. Just before we arrived at the airport, they told me that I should tell the next British passenger that they "are very sorry for beating them in Rugby." They were very interesting and fun to speak with.
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