With most fraternities now hosting off-campus parties, Uber drivers have gained a lot of business around the UA campus. With such a quick and easy way to pay for and get a ride, taking an Uber is convenient for those students attending multiple parties in one night. The Daily Wildcat asked two local Uber drivers about weird things they hear from the backseat and why they continue to drive crazy students around all hours of the night.
Daily Wildcat: Why’d you become an Uber driver?
Josiah Harper: Actually, I’m doing it for networking, ‘cause I’m a realtor.
Abraham Allush: First of all, my dad was a driver. He drove a cab for 20 years in Tucson, so I think that could have something to do with it. The main reason would be it’s so easy to sign up. Like, if you have your own car, you can be driving within a week from that day. It’s so easy to get a job—not that you don’t have to take background checks—but it’s very convenient. It’s easy to sign up, and it just works.
Are you from Tucson, or how’d you end up doing it here?
JH: I am born and raised in Tucson, and my brother-in-law is a full-time Uber driver.
AA: Yes, I am from Tucson. … I’m a driver, because it’s very convenient. The hours are good.
What’s your favorite thing about it?
JH: Getting to meet people, and actually, about seven years ago, I got a DUI, so I feel like I’m doing something good by giving people rides.
AA: [The hours] are good for me. The gist of it is the hours are good for me. I like having my own hours, I like staying up late and shutting off my phone when I don’t want to work. … Apart from that, it would be just helping people get to where they need to be any time of day, whenever they need help. There’s some good service involved. I feel like I’m servicing people.
What’s something that people do that makes you mad either when you’re picking them up or when they’re in your car?
JH: Nothing as far as people riding in the car; nothing too crazy has happened so far. But I will say that making someone wait a long period of time is kind of ridiculous.
AA: My only pet peeve is when people just treat you with disrespect. And that rarely, rarely happens — like, almost never. Uber has a system that makes it so it’s almost guaranteed that you’re going to have a good ride.
The other thing is when people get in the car with alcohol, I have to take it away from them and put it in the trunk. Sometimes people don’t like that. I’ve had guys come in here with open bottles of Vodka, and they’re like, “Oh, I can’t find the lid; is this okay?” And I’m like, “No, that’s not okay.” That’s the biggest pet peeve—people drinking in my car or trying to drink in my car.
Do you have any memorable conversations that you’ve had with people riding in your car?
JH: Well, since I don’t know who they are, and they probably won’t ever hear this, on a game day, someone talking about someone they just met a few hours ago and they’re going back to the dorms to you know. … And another one is during the day, I gave a pilot from India a ride to the airport, so that’s pretty cool. It’s always pretty different I think.
AA: I had a guy come in here who said he was from Sandy Hook, and he believes all these kinds of conspiracies and went on and on about that. Then he wanted to get dropped off at a frat house. That was kind of weird. He just believed in a conspiracy, I don’t know … about guns and gun laws.
Has anyone ever thrown up in your car?
AA: Not yet, no one’s thrown up yet.
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