When I called an Uber to take me ten blocks down the street, I felt embarrassed. When we missed the right turn onto Sixth Avenue, I wasn’t worried because hey, these guys probably know better routes that I do and I didn’t want to be difficult. But now 33 hours later, I found myself in the Saskatchewan.
How did I let this happen?
I like to think I’m an assertive woman, but driving an Uber is a difficult job, and I didn’t want to be rude. Also my driver was on the phone, and it would be weird if I just, like, interrupted. Besides, there are plenty of ways to get to the West Village, and I wasn’t about to suggest that Sixth Avenue was the only option. It’s not my business to tell them how to do their job! It is their business to take me to my destination, but I didn’t want to be a jerk about it.
Sure, I began to worry when we entered the Holland Tunnel. That was a detour that seemed a little far-fetched. But who am I to complain? This is a quickly expanding startup! Frankly, they know what they’re doing and I’m lucky to even be a part of this booming industry.
A couple hours later, I decided I would speak up and ask what was going on, but my driver began to argue on the phone somewhere around one of the Great Lakes and I really couldn’t get a word in. I worried if I had left enough water out for my cat. But I was also excited because I had never seen The Great Lakes before. I trusted that at some point, he would announce he made a mistake and we’d turn back around to head to New York.
Somewhere in Minnesota we picked up another rider, which is strange because I don’t even remember this being an Uber Pool. My driver and the new passenger got into a very heated argument about the upcoming season of Game of Thrones, and my driver threatened to throw him out. To be honest, that was a scary moment. It made me not want to bring the whole “maybe we’re hundreds of miles off course” thing, plus isn’t the whole point of Uber Pool to meet new people? This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
My horoscope had told me to take in new experiences with an open mind, and I kept reminding myself of that when we crossed the border into Canada. I didn’t have my passport on me, but my driver said he had extras so it didn’t seem to be a big deal. I thought that was really considerate, and didn’t want to seem ungrateful or rude by mentioning that we were over 20 hours away from my destination. Maybe I could start a life in Canada!
We began to drive through the Saskatchewan River. I was just about to say something, like, “Hey, I think I put in the wrong address,” but then my driver asked me if I wanted to be dropped on the near or far corner. I said near, because I always do, and got out of the car. My email receipt arrived, and the ride had cost $18,000. Now that’s where I draw the line. My phone’s out of batteries here, so I’m just stomping around the wet marsh waiting for someone to come by so I can borrow their phone.
If anybody wants to split a ride, please let me know!
