Uber stories - saturday night sap

I drove during the night this past Saturday. It was quite the eventful night, in several ways. For starters, I made more money than I ever had before, and I also had my first bad rider. Part of the reason it was so good was likely because the roads were bad. It had snowed about an inch and, while the snow wasn't a problem, it made the roads fairly slick. So I'm guessing a lot of people didn't want to chance driving.

I actually drove during the day on Saturday while Jane was at work. It wasn't too busy and I only made $34. We then worked a concert but when I got done I went back out around midnight. I was $5 short of $150 for the week and I hate stopping just short of those plateaus.

So I drove from midnight to about 4:45 am, and I made an extra $150, which put me at $184 for the day! That brought me to $295 for the week (3 days driving). This was by far my most productive day and week. A majority of my rides from midnight to 4:45 were surge rides, which pay extra. However, the downside was I had 3 or 4 cancellations. I got paid for most of them, but it's still a letdown.

As for passengers, just about all of them were in some state of inebriation. There were several couples, some from parties, some from restaurants/bars, and some people simply going to or from work. Some of the more memorable ones...

• One couple (guy and girl) were wearing matching leopard-print coats. They were probably in their early twenties, and I assume they were at a house party, although I picked them up out on the street. They were very nice though.
• Another guy and girl - I'm not sure if they were a couple or not - I picked up at a house. I had to wait FOREVER for them, even called/texted several times. They were younger as well, and were fine when they got in the car, but he must have said something because all of a sudden I could tell she was upset and they didn't talk the rest of the way.
• I picked up one couple about my age - maybe a little younger - and she fell down as soon as they walked out of the bar (Curly's). He managed to get her into the back seat, and he sat up front. She promptly flopped over and was passed out. When we got to their house he woke her up, and the minute she stepped out of the car, she fell flat again. I offered to help him but he carried her into the house himself.
• I had my first strip club fare on this night. A guy my age or older, and he was a little irritating. For starters, he got in and even though he put his destination address as Huntertown, he said all he really wanted was for me to take him to an ATM. Apparently he was in love and she had taken all his cash, and the machine in the club wouldn't give him anymore. So I asked him where to go and he says all snippity, "You're the damn driver, find me an ATM!" So I asked Siri on my phone and we finally found one. His card wouldn't work there either, so he asked to use my glasses. I'm like, "What?!" Turns out he couldn't read the back of his card to call, so I just told him the numbers (I was not giving him my glasses). So he called the cc company and it said he had money, so then he keeps asking my why it won't work. Like I'm supposed to know. Finally he told me to just take him back to the club. Once there he wanted me to wait for him. I said I couldn't wait but would still be in the area if he pinged me for another ride. Fortunately I got another pick-up as soon as he closed the door.
• There were probably a few other happenings with my 15 or so rides, but none more memorable (or difficult) than the last rider. It was around 4 am, and he was in the Creighton/Lafayette area. His location kept changing from when I was first notified to the time I got there. I finally called him and found him a street away from the original pickup point. As soon as he got in the car he canceled the ride. He said it was a mistake, so he requested again and we started off. Then, right away, he changes the destination (to the gay bar down the street). I said something and he tells me to just cancel it and turn off the app. He stuck $40 cash in my face and said he would just pay me cash. He needed to go to Dupont Rd, which was right across from the storage place I used to work at, but also ten miles away. I didn't feel real good about it, but decided forty bucks was forty bucks, so we started off. He was very obviously messed up on something, and gay as a kite. At one point he wanted to get something to eat - but he wanted to go to a sit down restaurant! I told him I'd take him to a drive-thru, but I was not stopping to eat. He eventually passed out in the back seat. However, he was mumbling and yelling and thrashing around. I didn't even want to know what he was doing. We finally arrived at his apartment and I had to wake him up to tell me which one was his. At first he asked if my basket of treats and kleenex was for him. I said he could have some, but he couldn't take the whole thing with him. Then he started getting a tad belligerent, and he couldn't find his wallet. He was throwing stuff around and yelling at me and cussing and whatnot. Finally he told me to take him back to where I'd picked him up. I had to go that way to get home, so I agreed. He was mostly passed out on the way back. When we arrived, I again had to wake him up. Then he wouldn't get out. I finally had to get a little stern and tell him repeatedly to leave. Finally he gets out, immediately falls flat on the ground because the road was icy. His phone and things went flying. I just drove away. I was done with this idiot. Or so I thought. When I got home (at 4:45 am) I looked in the back seat at all the candy and kleenex he had tossed about, and there was his flipping wallet on the floor!! He had just under $300 cash in it. So I contacted Uber to have them notify him (protocol) and got a few hours sleep before church. On the way to church Jane looked in his wallet and found slips of paper with all the vault codes for the bank he apparently worked at. Oopsy. If he had lost those, and someone else had found them, he would certainly have lost his job. Anyway, so he finally called me Sunday morning while I was at church. He said he would just come there to pick it up. He was very thankful and relieved - said he had been up all morning sobbing because he knew he would get fired. He gave me another $40, which I told him wasn't necessary, but he insisted. So I just put it in the church offering box. I wanted nothing further to do with this guy. He was probably very nice under normal circumstances, but I was tired and not overly happy with the whole ordeal.

So, that was without a doubt my most eventful night of driving yet. I prefer daytime driving, but I should probably do one weekend night every few weeks. That's when the most money can be made. Shoot, this one night was better than most of my entire weeks as far as money goes (in regard to driving). We will see.

I wish I could get in the habit of journaling about this job more. It's funny how I completely forget so many rides/people/encounters. Oh well. That's all for now...