Uber and Lyft Changed My Life

If you’re like me, you probably didn’t own a car until your 20’s. My first car was a 1995 Oldsmobile Cutlass. It was rundown, rusty, the ceiling was torn up, and it could barely do 50 without groaning. My father gave it to me as a birthday present, and even though it was old, I loved it. But not even five months later, the transmission went out, and transmission is really expensive to fix, so after that I was carless.

And I remained carless for years. I relied on the cars of family, friends, coworkers and the bus system for transportation. But most times, when I didn’t have a ride, I walked or biked my way to my various destinations. I can’t even count how many times I’ve walked to/from work, sometimes they were over 10 miles away. I’ve probably walked millions of miles in my lifetime.

But in 2015, I discovered an alternative. It was a dark and rainy afternoon, and I had just finished my shift at the Hilton hotel. I didn’t have a way home and I really didn’t want to walk in the rain . . . again. I asked my coworkers for rides in exchange for gas money, but almost everyone was in a rush and didn’t have time to drive me the other way across town.

But one of my coworkers, a nice man who worked in Engineering, introduced me to Uber. He said he was going to give me a ride, but I thought he meant a ride in his car. Instead he called an Uber driver for me, and paid for it out of his own pocket. The driver arrived five minutes later and drove me home through all that wind and rain.

I was amazed that apps like Uber and Lyft existed, and annoyed that I hadn’t heard of them before. So, because of this man’s kindness, I never had to walk to work a day in my life. I’ve been using Uber and Lyft for 5 years, and I’m thankful that they exist.

I do want to buy a car of my own one day. I’m saving every paycheck I get. Who knows? Maybe one day I won’t need Uber or Lyft.