A quiet meet cute, the indignities of driving, and a giant vulture puts the kibosh on my Lyft driving days

This week’s road observations: I spy a man washing his car on a dark cold night. Which wasn’t as weird as seeing another man do yoga poses in the middle of the sidewalk later that (still dark, now rainy) night. ~~~~~~~~ #Lyft Line: The Quiet Meet Cute A girl with long black hair gets into

The traffic-deterring giant slug, systemic honk reform and fruit-picking through the car window with a retired bat researcher

# Lyft Line # Kids Who Lyft A college-aged guy sits down in the front seat. After announcing that he has philosophy homework and a big research project to turn in, he gets to work.  The app tells me our ride has two stops; next we will be picking up his niece at her elementary school.

Corgi butts, passive-aggressive road gab, and a universe run by Siri

It’s a busy street in SOMA. So busy that when Tu—an Asian-American girl with shortly trimmed spiky hair, glasses, and a bouncy gait—lands buoyantly in the backseat of my car, a nearby vehicle is already honking at us to move.  Tu holds in her hands a salmon-colored paper box of cupcakes. Once we escape the

Carnal Questing: Passengers Talk Joys and Difficulties of Modern Dating

Perhaps more straightforward in our parents’ generation, dating takes so many different forms today. For some it’s exhaustingly uncertain and painful, for others it’s a dopamine rush and world-expanding. Some daters are out there looking for The One, others are experimenting with ethical non-monogamy, and still others are searching for (or open to) something in

A Lyft Line sickly symphony, the chinchilla at TJ’s, and my friend joins me for an Uber Eats run

#Lyft Line I kept yawning. Another passenger kept sneezing. A second passenger hiccuped, filling the air with the smell of beer. The guy next to me coughed continually. We were an unwell Lyft bunch if there ever was one. I briefly felt pride at our joint contributions to the Symphony of Sickliness. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lyft Thought:

Dear Men (A Wearied Letter from your Burned Out Lady Lyft Driver)

“Picking up strangers—alone—and inviting them into your car. It’s a task that’s unappealing at its core, and it can be especially so to women who are perceived to be more vulnerable to harassment or attack.” —Claire Zillman in a 2015 Fortune Magazine article about women Uber drivers **Of the 160,000 drivers in the US, 14

Pancake dates, fruity conversations, and fireworks galore: Lyft passengers on 4th of July

“Make sure you secure your pets tonight Folks, because some of them might get scared!” the woman on the radio encourages in a sweetly concerned tone of voice, as I drive the crowded July 4th streets of San Francisco. It’s cold out. One guy has his arms folded up inside his short-sleeved American flag shirt when

Honks, Expletives, and Relentless Traffic: Dispatches from the Wild Wild Road

The driver lets out a sigh as he waits for pedestrians to cross the street at the speed of molasses. Seeing that one of them has a walker, he eases up on the steering wheel, which he’d been gripping tightly before. “No one to blame, Anger. Stay down,” he instructs his festering emotions. The walker scoots

Toast with Me: Golden State Bars

Step inside and unwind at these California bars with memorable ambiences—all stumbled upon in my excursions as a Lyft driver across the state. **No need to worry, as I can assure you that sparkling water was my beverage of choice at pretty much all of these. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ First and Last Chance Saloon (Oakland, CA) Paper

To Hug a Porcupine: A Marin County Passenger Talks Bojack Horseman and Intergenerational Trauma

*Names changed to protect confidentiality For many years, Marin County was home to Robin Williams. Its natural beauty and proximity to San Francisco have made it a popular dwelling for affluent retirees in search of sanctuary without having to forgo easy access to the culture and bustle of a city. When I look up from