Saturday came, and after the kids started their naps, I logged into Uber and started vacuuming the X3. Uber recommends you have a clean ride and offer your occupants cold water, plus I wanted to give my riders a proper experience. I loaded a few sodas in a cooler and was finishing up my vacuuming of the front seats. The alert came, my first fare. I had let a half dozen fares slip by during the week, but no more. Seven minutes away was my first fare John, I accepted the fare and was en route within a minute with curious anxiety.
My First Uber Fare
As I approached the requested pick up area, I pressed the “arriving now” button on the app and pulled into the driveway of my first fare. At first I felt the urge to get out and knock on their door, but decided to stay put instead. After a few moments John and his wife Sally came out with smiles and beach attire. First I wondered if they wanted to go to Santa Cruz – given the weather and traffic that would have been an hour drive. Instead they wanted to go to the Elk Club, San Jose. I wasn’t familiar with the Elk Club, but John helped me navigate the 9 minute 58 second trip.
John was my first fare – he was a 5 Star Rider and he rated me a 5 Star Driver
I had to ask some questions since I was planning on writing a mixedwiki.com article, what did they like about Uber? As it turns out, it’s not all that hard to better the average cab experience. I didn’t know there was general disdain toward cabs, but later I read this article which corroborated John and Sally’s claim. Before I could ask more, we’d reached our stop. One touch on the Uber app to “end trip” and that was it, no fumbling for cards, cash, or change. John even invited me in to the Elk club as his guest! Not wanting to upset the Uber gods, and since John and Sally were really cool, I obliged. No sooner had I downed my Coke, my Uber iPhone was already ringing with my next fare. Only three minutes away, I hopped in the X3 and headed over.
