Continuation of Uber drivers’
Life Stories
Driver 8— A 32 year old black guy who owns a house in Summerlin. While driving, his former live-in partner kept calling. It was on speaker phone that’s why I could hear what she was saying. “Can you pick up my mother?” “I can’t I’m working. I’ll call you in 30 minutes”. “No, can you go pick up my mother at 3 pm?” “I told you I can’t, I am working”.
He said they have a 5 year old daughter. I asked him why they split and why he didn’t marry her. “She’s crazy and lazy. She doesn’t clean the house, cook, or feed my daughter. all she does is do her nails, go shopping. I come home tired from work and my daughter is hungry, no food because she doesn’t feed her. The house is a mess. She doesn’t want to clean because she said I should clean, throw garbage and do everything for her. She’s crazy. We’re always fighting. I got tired arguing. It’s my house, so I asked her to leave”.
Driver 9— is a pretty wife, 35 years old. She’s originally from Virginia, met her Dutch husband, then moved to Amsterdam after they got married. He was hired by a big hotel casino in Las Vegas that’s why they moved to Las Vegas. His task is to bring their hotel / casino customer service up several notches to entice back the high rollers from China away from Macao.
They bought a 3700 two story house in a guard gated community. She has 3 children. She drives Uber after she has dropped off her kids to school. Then stop again midday. Pick her children up. Prepare dinner. Then when she still has time and energy, she picks up passengers for two hours. Ang sipag ano.
Driver 10—He is Korean and vacations every year in Korea plus they visit another Asian country. For next year, he and his wife are planning to visit Manila as per strong recommendation from their Manila-based Korean friend.
Driver 11— He and his wife moved to Las Vegas several years ago to escape the knee-deep inches of snow in Chicago. They enjoy the warm sunny weather in Vegas. The heat does not bother them. They said there’s air conditioning. They are happier here and also finds the Uber set-up favorable to his schedule. He can work and rest anytime he wants to. He said there is no pressure. When his wife calls to accompany her to the movie, he could go anytime.
Driver 12— He lived in Orange County but moved to Las Vegas after his wife divorced him.
She found a better man according to her because this Uber driver couldn’t find a job in LA.
He works at the casino part time as part of the maintenance crew. He drives Uber in the afternoon until about 7 pm. He said he is trying to save money so he could send his daughter to college.
December 13—She is mixed European and Asian. She has three grown up children. She and husband divorced after they lost their house in 2008. He blamed her for their financial trouble because she liked to shop a lot. She said she had more than 300 pairs of shoes and 100 plus bags. She also likes make-up and dresses. They used to live in the Bay Area but they moved to Las Vegas after they filed for bankruptcy because the cost of living in Las Vegas is lower. She drives the Uber everyday for 6 hours.
Driver 14— A 70 year old woman. Drives from 6 am to 2 pm from monday to friday.
She rests on weekends and holidays. She used to have a comfortable life. She owned a big beautiful house in Los Angeles and a bar and restaurant near Hollywood. She lost everything she had during the recession. Her husband wanted to move to Idaho and live in his mother’s house but she didn’t want to live with her mother-in-law. Her husband didn’t want to try their luck in Las Vegas because they didn’t know anyone there that’s why he preferred to live with his mother in Idaho. They went separate ways. She (the Uber driver) went to Las Vegas broke and alone with only her faith in herself and hope to survive. Her husband went to Idaho, choosing a more secure and certain future.
She got lucky she said because the next day she immediately found a job. Her husband phoned her after three months and told her he regretted not going with her to Las Vegas.
He said “wait for me, I am coming”. She said “oh yeah when you come we can have a nice dinner”.
Husband—-“What do you mean?”
Wife——-“We can’t live together. I found a boyfriend. I sent you the divorce papers two weeks ago”.
She lied. She didn’t have a boyfriend and never had one till this day. She sent him the divorce papers and they have never seen nor talked to each other ever since. She told me she doesn’t know if her husband is dead.
She said she is renting an apartment for $550 in a nice location complete with facilities. She is afraid to buy and lose her house again so she’ll just keep on renting. “I am 70 and my money goes to my health expenses. I am also saving money so I don’t end up in the streets”.
