I am a ride-share driver in the greater Los Angeles area. I am not native to the area; I have lived most of my life on the east coast, and I received my California license in 2022. So, I bring new eyes to the region and an outsider’s view of the people here.
It is the opportunity to interact with a wide range of individuals that I love about the job. As each rider enters the car—either alone or with others in the party—they bring with them their own frame of mind—their own history, experiences, thoughts, emotions, goals, preset understandings of the world….
Often, riders want to talk among themselves or just be quiet in their thoughts.
But sometimes they share.
Sometimes they laugh.
Sometimes their souls hunger.
This website is a place where I will relate some of the more striking interactions and experiences I have had while driving. You won’t find information that could be used to identify any particular person, and not everything will be related exactly as it happened. The point here is not to embarrass or criticize individuals, but to laugh, to wonder, to explore, to share life experience and perspectives of the world so that we can all feel to be more integral to the social fabric.
Maybe some readers will appreciate a new way to consider a particular subject. Some will be amused by or shocked by outrageous behaviors. You may stumble upon fascinating personal stories or marvel about real lives that coexist in the region. And perhaps some of you will feel that you are not so alone.
I find that the riders (and I) are all human beings physically located in L.A. at the same moment, and that we have so much in common.
Whatever you find here, I hope that my words engage your interest, and that you will come back often to experience the secret (or not-so-secret) stories and spaces—real or imagined—of los Angelenos.