The car smelled like bad news as soon as I stepped in. I would credit my intuition, but it was more like something I’ve learned from experience combined with statistics — the fact that, when it comes to this transportation service, the ratings don’t lie. I found comfort in knowing that it’d be a short ride, though.
Then, about three minutes later (it must’ve been three minutes or less into our trip), as he pulled up to an intersection, the car just shut off.
Face buried in my phone I only looked up because he said:
“Uh oh.”
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
To which, very nonchalantly he responded, “We…might not make it to your destination.”
Wait, what?!
I dropped everything and paid close attention. I’d never had or would ever expect any driver to ever give me such warning.
It didn’t immediately occur to me that maybe something was wrong with the engine or that he was out of gas or something. As the daughter of a professional worst-case-scenario thinker, the thought of “is this when I get kidnapped?” briefly crossed my mind. (Actually, that might be a standard “being a woman” thought.) I’ve pondered on some worst-case scenarios myself before, when riding with strangers, but this was so ridiculous it was (kind of) hilarious.
The thing is, there’s something I don’t do, which maybe I should, but just don’t love the idea — and that is drive in Miami. I’ve lived in this city long enough to have picked up the pace of the bad drivers all around me and go with their flow. But the truth is I’ve already witnessed more than enough accidents and it terrifies me.
Instead, I’ve relied on other drivers to move around. Like I have in the past, living in big cities where the problem was a horrible parking situation, these days I take the train, ride with friends, get on trolleys, and of course I use services like Uber and Lyft. Though I like to believe it’s a better option, these last two are not necessarily any safer.
The driver, in this episode, started giving me all sorts of excuses as to why the car was losing power. “This is a rental,” he said, “from Uber, but it’s crap, it’s not a good car…” But he kept saying we might not make it and it made me anxious. As if I couldn’t just get out and leave…
It was just weird, so I asked him to take local roads in case his car didn’t make it. I also started making conversations with the guy because, you know, I’d better started the negotiations! [Laughs nervously]
This was actually not the first time I found myself in a similarly awkward situation with an Uber/Lyft driver. At that moment, I remembered how one time I was going from Southern Jersey to Philadelphia. It may sound like a long trip, but it’s not if you know your US geography. Essentially, I was just going across the bridge. Upon realizing my destination, the driver sort of freaked out and started searching for something in the console and in the glove compartment.
Not finding what he was looking for, he said, “I don’t have any cash for the toll, do you?” When I told him I didn’t have cash, he asked if we could stop at his bank to see if his deposit had “cleared.” “I keep refreshing my account, but nothing shows up,” he said. Inside, I was crying. It found it funny, until I thought, well, here’s someone who is really, really trying to make ends meet and it was just sad.
Like the deposit-driver, the bad-engine-driver seemed to be struggling, too, as he couldn’t decide if the car was turning off due to gas or a bad engine — and I never looked at the tank to confirm.
I feel bad that they have to spend money to make little money. But as a passenger who is paying to simply get to her destination without drama or complications, I expect better. I hope that these drivers are better prepared to take on their job.
Those drivers both had something in common, though: low ratings. I ignored the flags on both occasions, but it is in fact one rule of mine to not proceed with a driver who has bad reviews.
In the end, and though barely, we made it to my destination and the driver apologized. But I’m certain we’ll never meet again.
