Uber Tales: On the Road Before and After COVID-19

Over the last year or so I’ve been trying to put into words what it was like for me on the road before and after COVID-19. Prior to COVID-19 people it felt like people were pretty happy-go-lucky at times and the crazy conspiracy theory assholes were fewer and farther in between. But I also knew back then a lot of people were close to burnout, like the businesspeople I had who were traveling two to three weeks out of every month and barely seeing their families. I felt like sometimes people may have been trying too hard to maintain a certain appearance, to go out and party when maybe they didn’t feel like it, or woke up hungover and in bed with someone whose name they couldn’t remember.

I started driving for Uber in 2017 and not long after that I saw the first groups of immigrants dropped off in the middle of downtown San Antonio with nowhere to go. I saw the building across from Travis Park United Methodist Church opened up by the city and people coming down to help these poor refuges with food and clothing, legal and translation services, and even toys for the kids. I remember the Mayor of San Antoino telling the motherfucker in the White House (yes, I hate Donald Trump and I don’t give a shit what anyone thinks about that) that if he had a problem with what the city and all the volunteers were doing then he could come down and say that himself (which he didn’t because Trump is a fucking coward along his with band of thugs).

In the first three years on the job, I went over every part of San Antoino, from its’ wealthiest enclaves to its’ poorest ones. In those poor areas I saw people just trying to get through the day, walking to bus stops with kids in tow, walking along streets with boarded-up storefronts, and crumbling buildings and houses. I saw homeless encampments and people sleeping on the streets, and shelters at or over capacity. I saw crowds of tourists, convention goers, and people battling traffic on the roads and highways. I learned just how diverse this city really is, and yes, how disparate the incomes are in this city, too.

On New Year’s Eve 2019 into 2020, the city partied like there was no tomorrow. I was on I-10 going out of downtown at midnight and saw not only the fireworks from the city party downtown, but from all over the city, too. Three months later, the party was over and the city became an empty, hollowed-out shell of itself. I’ll never forget driving up Alamo street downtown shortly after lockdown when all the hotels shut down and the streets were truly empty. It was almost like a horror movie though as I drove by the Alamo that lovely Spring afternoon, a group of bicyclists rode past me waving and their bells. I waved back and smiled a little, glad to see people trying to make the best of a horrible situation.

But I also remember the morgue trucks outside the hospitals, the billowing white tents outside those hospitals, the two nurses I had in the car one day who had come in to help and were talking about everything but their jobs. I remember so many conversations with people who had loved ones deathly-ill in the hospitals, all those who lost someone close to them, and seeing the hundreds of new graves in all the cemeteries around the city. I remember being told I was a hero for staying on the job along with all the other ‘essential’ workers, yet I also remember how people were such assholes about masks and social distancing. Luckily, I only had a couple of passengers give me static about wearing a mask in the car (though they complied with me real fast when I told them I could cancel the ride without getting dinged for it). And luckily no one ever gave me shit for wearing a mask in the car as long as I did (three years).

Prior to COVID, whenever I used to talk about my dream of living on the road in a converted shuttle bus, a lot of the reaction was like I was nuts. After COVID, so many people tell me they’re thinking of doing the same thing- just chucking it all and hitting the road and being done with everyone else’s stupid bullshit. But there will be a part of me that might miss being on the streets every day and having conversations with people like I do.

There are still people out there who are trying to keep up appearances, to be a certain way and also, a fair number that have their personality-type set to ‘asshole’. These are the jerkwads that probably ride my bumper and use their cellphone while driving, but also the ones that treat service workers like shit (luckily, it’s been a long time since I’ve had an absolute jerkwad in the car with me). But there are more people today who are kinder, and more focused on what truly matters in this world, which is taking care of others, being kind, and not buying into anyone’s mean-ass bullshit or dumb-ass appearances.

So what is the biggest difference before and after COVID on the road?

That more people every day realize how short life is and to make the most of what you got, and live a good life and not worry about what other people might think about that.

And try to make the dream of hitting the road and leaving it all behind come true.