St. Patricks Day has now come and gone for another year. This was my first as an Uber driver. Like just about everything else I suppose it had it's positives, and negatives.
It helped that Jane was out of town for the weekend (visiting her brother in Colorado), so I didn't feel bad about working on the weekend, but it also kept me from getting drunk and stupid while she was gone!
I debated whether I should drive late at night and into the morning - possibly making more in tips, but also having to deal with more 'tipsy' riders - or sticking to daytime hours. I think I made the wise choice and drove during the day. There were plenty of partiers as it was, plus I was the greeter at church Sunday morning.
I started driving around 12:30 pm and stayed out until 7:30 pm. I took a couple half hour breaks to pee and stretch my legs, so it ended up I was online just under 6 hours (5 hrs. 50 min.). I took in $130 - so it was over $20 an hour. I was hoping for more - thinking I would drive a little longer - but things were getting a tad chaotic as it was, so I decided to quit while I was ahead. I've heard reports of some Fort Wayne drivers taking in over $500 for the day, but they worked a full 12 hours (as long as we're allowed to drive at a time). So while I didn't come close to that, I was happy with what I got. It's about a week's worth of driving for me, and in only six hours.
Right from the start I was picking up groups of people wanting to "get their Irish on," so to speak. I had several four-passenger rides, and couples. I think I only had 2 or 3 lone riders. Most of my time was spent either taking people to, or picking people up from, one of four locations in town: the GetGreen festival, JK O'Donnell's, O'Sullivans, and Deer Park. JK's closed off their street, so that was interesting, but O's and Deer Park were clearly the most chaotic. I honestly can't believe I wasn't involved in an accident at the corner of Spring Street and Leesburg Road (I heard there was a bad wreck there after I stopped driving).
I had a couple people fade off on me as I took them home. The only real "problem" person I had never did even get in my car. He'd requested a ride from Deer Park, but it turned out he was actually at O's. He didn't get obnoxious or anything, but he seemed drunk enough that he had no clue what he had done or what he was doing. I had no problem finding someone else who needed a ride. It was back to back all day long.
The craziest thing I saw was a couple (guy and girl) both peeing beside someone's garage by Deer Park. The thing was... it was right alongside the main road where everyone could see them. People were hollering and laughing at them, but I don't think they cared.
The strangest thing of the day was a lone guy I picked up at a hotel. He was maybe mid twenties, and he was actually FROM Belfast, Ireland. He'd just arrived in Fort Wayne a week ago to start an internship. He had a 2-liter bottle of coke and was going to a friends house. He said Americans party way more than the Irish do on St. Patty's day. He thought it was quite amusing.
This was also the first time I've picked someone up who I knew - even though I didn't actually give them a ride. A woman that works out where I work, and also works in Jane's office, was in a group of people I picked up. They needed two vehicles and she ended up choosing to ride in the other. It was kind of weird pulling up to the same place at the same time as another Driver. I waived at him, but he just looked at me.
So, all in all, it wasn't a bad day. I was tired because it was a little bit stressful with the extra traffic and so many people walking around town, but I was happy with the payout. I don't usually mind drunks (myself included), however I tend to think St. Patrick's Day partiers are a little different. I'm thinking the earlier drunks were more well behaved than the later ones.
No comments:
Post a Comment