This is my third ride, ever. My first two went pretty well, I was able to drive them to their destination without killing anyone, my customers in both rides were happy with my 'fancy' phone charger setup and my WiFi, and the app navigated me without any major issues. I ignorantly believed all my rides would be fast, easy, and mildly entertaining. Then I got my third ride, and reality came crashing down on my hopes and dreams... ok, it wasn't that bad, but this is when I realized my rides were not all going to be calm and peachy.  

I picked up a young woman (18) and a young man (similar age) at a house in the suburbs of Sunnyslope, WA. When I arrived I saw several bags and luggage items in the front yard, so my first guess was "Oh, I must be taking this young couple to the airport." No, not at all. When the couple came out of the house I got out of the car and helped them load their items in the trunk. I could immediately see the young lady was upset, but the male, presumed boyfriend, was not. I wasn't sure what to make of that, but I didn't say anything.

The ride was very quiet at first, I welcomed them to my car and answered the lady's question about which charger worked with her phone, but otherwise no conversation. This silence only lasted about 5 minutes though, as shortly after leaving the neighborhood the female passenger began crying. I offered her some tissues, and she opened up about her whole situation to me. Apparently her step father doesn't approve of her decision to become a professional cartoonist, so he beats her. Today he was drunk, got into some sort of fight with her, and kicked her out of the house. She feels powerless because she doesn't have enough money to move out but she's 18 now so she can't report child abuse. Of course I listened to her and let her vent, but I kept my opinions to myself. 

She got really emotional. The man didn't do much, but eventually offered her a "Blueberry & Chocolate Cheesecake W/ Truffle Oil" vape. I don't allow smoking or vaping in my car but she was so upset, I didn't say anything. The vape didn't calm her down though; she kept going on and on about how this step father was ruining her life and how she wanted to be left alone but she couldn't afford to move out, etc. I keep a few tiny teddy bears in the front of my car for children, so I gave one of them to her and she appreciated it. Now, her story changed to how much she missed her biological father, and how he would give her teddy bears all the time, and how she lost him too early, and I could see there was no way to make this girl happy!

When we finally got to her destination (which turned out to be the man's home) the couple thanked me for listening to the story, and for giving her the bear and the tissues. I helped them move their luggage, the woman realized she had dropped her vape oil somewhere, searched my car for a few minutes, then gave up and told me she would give me a "huge tip" and asked that I call her if I found the oil.

The next week I got my paycheck, and saw that there was no tip on her fare. Nice!

This story takes place on a cold, rainy Friday evening. I picked a man in his late 30's and a child, an eight year old girl. The girl was too short for my seat belts in the back seat, but dad had a small folding contraption with him that lowered the seat belt height. (I usually turn away parties with small children if they don't have a child seat, I don't need a ticket or worse, and Lyft's policy is clear: it's the parent's responsibility to provide a child/booster seat, not the driver).

The journey was about 2 hours. The girl kept to herself, playing with some sort of foam tablet (maybe a kid's fire tablet or something) and dad was talking with me about simple stuff, like traffic, cars, life in WA, nothing to heavy or serious.

Then about an hour in, the girl had fallen asleep and dad changed the subject to his personal life. He told me about her mother, and why mom wasn't in their life. I'll spare you the details, most of it was the typical stuff that drives couples apart, but there was one part that stuck out: she was pregnant with their second child and tried to use that child as leverage for a marriage. Dad wasn't ready for that yet, and when she saw that he was not going to 'pop the question' she broke up with him, left the then 3 year old child with him, and aborted the second child just shy of the end of the 1st trimester. 

Now, I have my personal feelings about abortion, but I think most sane people, pro choice included, would agree that aborting a child as an emotional attack on the father is not acceptable. From what he explained their relationship was great at first, but it was on again off again for a while, then they had the first girl, stayed together for a year, then he raised her alone for a while, then mom came back, got pregnant, and demanded they be married or she would abort the child. He thought that was a bad idea, because they had "serious shit" to work out, and he didn't think marriage would be appropriate. 

This was all five years ago, and today dad says his daughter has no meaningful relationship with mom. She knows who her mom is, and has seen her a few times but dad tried to keep them apart. Dad justifies that mom had her own husband and children now, her own life, and it's better to avoid breaking his daughter's heart then allow them to regroup just for mom to leave her like she did him. I understand that logic, but without knowing more details I can't say if that's right or not. 

Dad showed me some photos at different red lights, and along with how he speaks about his daughter I believe that she is incredibly important to him. He has fears that mom will try to regain custody in the future since mom and dad never took legal action to secure custody, but I told him that's not too likely when he can show a court evidence that he's been a major part of his daughter's life and that mom has had little interest in reconnecting up to this point. 

It was an interesting ride. I gave his daughter a teddy bear and he tipped me $10 cash. I hope he can find a new mother for that girl! I can't imagine being a single parent is easy... and that mother aborting the child under those circumstances, if they are just as he said, is absolutely horrible. 

Ah, Saturday night. 1 AM. Drunk people in almost every ride. My kind of night! Drunks can be really entertaining, and this is just one example. 

I pick up two young woman and an older man (I'd say the woman were in their 20's and the man was probably 50 something). They were all drunk, and babbling about their plans for later that night. Talking about what kind of cocktails and mixes they could make, who would be there, etc. Typical drunk ride. But then, one of the ladies tries to pull down the man's pants. She wasn't doing too well, so he helped her, but driving all I knew at that moment was there was a lot of bumping and shifting around going on in the back seat. He was in the middle seat, but the road was too curvy for me to take my eyes off the road. 

When I did get a chance to look back I saw the man in his shirt and underwear with one of the girls rubbing his, bulge, and the other filming vertical video. I didn't say anything. I just looked at them and they stopped. He put his pants back on and they remained silent for remainder of the short trip. The girls were embarrassed but the man didn't seem to be.

I dropped them off at their destination and they said nothing, not even goodbye. I received no tip. But the story doesn't end there. The next day I was woken up by my cell phone ringing. When I answered it was one of the girls saying she left her portable battery pack in my car last night. I asked her who she was, since I had many rides that night, and she responded with her name, then clarified "I was in the group that pleasured the man in your back seat." That was hilarious.

P.S: I was not able to locate her battery.

It's Wednesday afternoon. I receive a request to pick someone up at an extended stay hotel. When I get there a man in his 40's gets in the car, with a drill. He asks for a bottle of water and I give him one. As I drive him to his stop he explains to me that he works as a private detective, and often works with the Seattle PD. He told me he didn't have much time because he's on his lunch break right now (from the hotel? As a PI? Ok...) but that he needs to see his friend. All this time he's cleaning this drill he brought with him. It wasn't new, it has scuff marks and sharpie on it, but he sure seemed proud of it. 

I get to his stop and a woman gets in the back. She honestly looked like Wendy from Breaking Bad. Seriously. Basically, this is his friend:

He now wanted me to take him to a second stop, then a third. He only requested me for one stop though, so I asked him to re-request me after I ended the ride. He did, and as I waited for him to re-request his friend started talking to him about the drill. She thought it looked "good", and that it was "pretty cool". She even wondered how he got "such a nice drill". For his second stop I took him to a 2nd friend's house. The first friend, Wendy's doppelganger, stayed in the car and played with my phone chargers while the man ran up to this 2nd friend's door. He spent a whole 12 minutes talking to this friend, presumably about his drill. He showed it off and was holding it as they talked. About 6 minutes in Wendy started eating my strawberry suckers. (I have some candy in the back seat for my guests) It sounded like some wild animal... loud and unorganized slurping and crunching sounds. And as the time elapsed she ate them faster and faster. 

Finally the man got back in my car and I took him and his 1st friend, back to the first friend's house... Why did this woman get in my car to begin with? What is the logic in this ride? How long is his lunch break? WHAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT THE DRILL? This guy defies all logic! Who is the lady to him, beyond being a friend? Why does she gobble up candy like those kids in Invader Zim?

A short and sad story. I picked up a man at a house and took him home. The ride itself was not very interesting, but the destination was. His 'home' consisted of a wooden box, roughly 4' x 10' x 6' kept under the gap in some stairs at an abandoned hotel. I'm serious, he built himself a little shack just big enough to lie down in and sleep, with no windows and a heavy duty lock on the outside. I hope he can get a better home! I wish I could help but I don't have that kind of money. He seemed fairly healthy, in the mind I mean, not like some homeless individuals. But clearly he has enough money to afford a smartphone with service and a Lyft ride. I don't know, maybe it's just an act to get money out of sympathetic Lyft drivers.

This one is pretty fun. Not a drunk or a sad story, just an interesting one. I picked up a man at the mall and took him to the hospital. He was buying some gifts for a loved one recovering from a car accident. He was very nice and talkative, and he told me about all the Star Trek actors he's met. I went back to my dash cam footage from that day to get this list for you, he claims to have seen: Peter Weller, Jeri Ryan, Kate Mulgrew, Carolyn McCormick, Wil Wheaton, Jennifer Lien, Eric Menyuk, and Marc Alaimo. There were a few more I couldn't make out well enough. 

He talked about how he met these actors at various events, and some he followed to non star trek shows or conventions. The man told me about some of his trips, like his one to Las Vegas. He and his family went to Las Vegas for a convention and on the strip. There were woman dressed in BDSM outfits whipping men's rears as they passed on the sidewalk, and one of them hit his daughter in the back of the head. After dealing with that, he and his daughter went to the convention where they got pictures with a few different actors. He says his "Jr. Trekkie" felt meeting her favorite character made the night worth it. A nerd's dream I suppose!

I like star trek myself, but I think this guy was one of the biggest fans in the community. I think I would skip the show if someone assaulted my daughter...