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adelaide, direction, driver, empowerment, fulfilment, melbourne, personal, uber

I Went Uber Only—Here's What I Learned

Ryan Spaccavento May 18, 2016

Today I got into an uber on my way to picking up one of our vans. It’s been a bit frustrating having a third van now, and not being able to bring home the new one (the high roof won’t fit in my car spot).

So I’ve been catching UberX all around town instead of going out and buying a car. On the weekend I rented a GoGet, and though I still need to run the numbers I’m convinced that the costs associated with having a CarAsIGo make it far more cost effectiveand less of a headache.

Catching an Uber at least twice per day from home to the warehouse, warehouse to the gym then anywhere in-between has put me in the same space with a lot more people than I would have come into contact with otherwise. When I drive the vans around, I make a point of plugging in my iPhone and streaming a book (I’m on a mission to eat three per month). I find it a bit socially awkward being on the phone sat in the front seat of someone else’s vehicle, so I’ve made an effort to interchange audio books for learning about people.

With UberX launching in Adelaide this week, the locals there are about to have a whole new community come together (and get free rides for the time being).

UberX: set to launch in Adelaide UberX: set to launch in Adelaide

The Uber community in Melbourne first and foremost is diverse. People from all walks of life that all have a commonality of pick-up and drop off yet share the same sentiment of working independentlyfor themselveswhen they want. I wonder if Uber should term their drivers “microentrepreneurs”: a community of people self-empowered to create their own path.

Some drivers are more friendly than others, most will offer you a mint or gum and a bottle of water. Just today I met a guy, Muzaffar, who was driving full time. He was working as a motor-mechanic for six months before working with Uber full time. He’d lost both of his parents and was driving to support his immediate family. Although he was making more driving for Uber, he was going to go back and continue working as a motor-mechanic to secure his Australian residency.

An Uber driver set to take me where I want to go, when I want to go An Uber driver set to take me where I want to go, when I want to go

I was heading back from a meeting in Docklands last week and I met John, a business analyst who had finished a full time contract and was waiting to move overseas with his wife. Before he goes for the foreseeable future his wife had told him “stop watching movies all day, go and drive Uber”to which he turned to me and said “it’s good I don’t get in trouble any more and I just do what I want”.

It’s hard knowing how appropriate it is to pry into people’s lives, but for the lack of audiobook-learning, I certainly get a lot more out of hearing other people's stories than I would by not asking; it’s damn fascinating too. With the controversy about Uber aside (love it or hate it) where were these people before Uber? What jobs would they have if Uber didn’t exist here? Would their story be told?

Where are you going? Where are you going?

I can’t help but link the “driver” of the Uber mentality to where I am today. Something about ‘when I want, where I want, on my terms’ really resonates with me. I’m certainly not saying that driving for yourself (for Uber) is the same as starting a coffee companybut there’s something to be said for self-empowerment, and for these drivers that ‘vehicle’ is Uber.

Another driver I met just a few weeks ago on my way out to dinner hailed from Ethiopia. He was just finishing his PhD in Computer Science, looking at how software programs could help people write apps themselves and get them to market quicker. His eyes lit up when I told him that Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee was my favourite. I guess my favourite thing to talk about always ends up being coffee.

Tagged: adelaide, direction, driver, empowerment, fulfilment, melbourne, personal, uber

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