A new CNN/ORC poll conducted by telephone on May 29 – 31, 2015, with 1,025 adult respondents, finds that more Americans have a favorable view of former President George W. Bush than of President Barack Obama, our current president.
Hold your thoughts.
Two months ago, among numerous good men and women who work in the oil and gas industry, I was laid off. As a result of the dramatic drop in the price of crude oil in the international market. As a father and as a husband, I have to continue to provide for my family irrespective of losing my job. So after considering my options on how to go about my manly duties, becoming an Uber driver tops the list. For one, meeting the security requirements was a cakewalk for me. Secondly, the idea of being my own boss and working the hours of my choosing was so appealing I had no choice than to latch on.
On my first day as Uber driver, my first ride request came from a Russian guy who is an international student in the U.S.
For those of you familiar with how the Uber thing works, well, brush to the next paragraph. But for those who do not know and haven’t used it before, this is how it works. Uber drivers have the Uber partner app in their phones and the riders have the riders’ app on theirs as well. Each Uber driver has the make and model of his car, the license plate number of his car, and a picture of his included in his Uber profile. On the driver app, whenever the driver wants to work, he has the “Go Online” button on his app. Once he clicks it, because going online is GPS-enabled, every rider wishing to hitch a ride in his area can see him. Anytime he wishes to stop working, he also has the “Go Offline” button, which takes him off the radar. Whenever an Uber driver goes online, which means he is ready to play, the rider who needs a ride can see how far away the driver is from him or her, and if the information on the driver’s profile in addition to his distance from the rider meets the rider’s needs, the rider can request a ride from the driver. Once the request is sent, it goes to the requested driver’s phone and the driver has 15 seconds to accept or ignore the request.
So on my first day as Uber driver, being excited about this new gig, especially the part about meeting new people – am a people person, when my first Uber request came in, I just accepted it at the first beep.
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