Recently I had a very brief week-long career as a driver. I signed up as a Lyft driver in Austin, TX. It took me a couple of hours on the web to do so, and I became a driver for hire.
There were several reasons why I did that. Foremost reason was that I was curious to know how it feels to do a low-status service job. All jobs I had done before have also been service jobs but they were cognitively demanding, high status jobs such as teaching college courses in reputed universities or product marketing at a multinational corporation in the Silicon Valley. In contrast to that kind of service work, a taxi driver’s job though it requires skill is not intellectually challenging or high status.
Another reason why I chose to drive was that I like driving. I learned driving without being taught in my teenage years — an unusual thing for someone born in a middle-class Indian family. Many of my friends were rich and had cars.
When I came to the US for graduate studies, one of the first things I did with my meager savings was to buy a car. It was a used Chevy Malibu. It was as big as a tank, as American cars used to be then. A couple of years later I got myself a new Mitsubishi Cordia — my first new car — when I moved to the San Francisco Bay area to work at HP in the 1980s. [1]
I like driving of course but I am also pretty good at it. I estimate that I have driven around 600,000 miles (1 million kms) in the US. I was involved in two accidents but neither was my fault. I must have paid around $50,000 in car insurance premium over the years and I have never claimed even one dollar. In effect, I paid (and I am still paying) for the lousy drivers on American roads.[2]
One of the best features of the US is road-trips. You gets into your car — by yourself or with your friends and family — and drives the endless interstates that criss-cross the vast continent. I have done one drive from the West to the East coast in 2017 and one from the East coast to Texas in September 2022. On top of that, over the last few years I have done many road trips to Chicago from the East coast, and one from Texas to Chicago. .
The US highway system — that includes the interstates and the various US and state highways — is a marvel to behold. But let me get back to the Lyft driver bit. It was short but instructive nonetheless. Here are the high-lights:
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- I did about 24 hours of driving over 6 days. An average of 4 hours a day. I gave around 50 rides in total.
- On average, including tips, I got around $500.
- I drove around 500 paid miles, and around 500 miles unpaid miles.
- The best riders were Texans. They were kind and generous. Only they tipped; the rest did not. One Texan gave me a $20 tip in cash for a $10 ride. Another Texan, a blue-collar worker, gave me a $5 tip a few minutes into the ride.
- I was surprised that I earned only around $8 per hour of work. I wonder how this works for those who do it for a living. I was doing that on a lark. But what about the other drivers?
- Five of the riders were young Indian techies. That’s because I live close to an Apple campus in Austin. Though they were obviously well paid, they did not tip and were not friendly, unlike the Texans. The worst was a young Indian woman I drove to Austin airport. She was — not to put too fine a point on it — an absolute bitch.
- I conjecture why the Indian riders were relatively rude. High status Indians look down on people who serve them. They have never experienced serving others and therefore think that those who serve are not deserving of respect.
- Unlike middle class Americans, middle class Indians don’t have any experience doing blue-collar jobs. Many American teenagers work and earn wages doing menial jobs like lawn mowing, baby sitting, paper delivery, waiting tables, etc. I did not have the opportunity to do any of those. But I would have liked to.
- The American blacks I gave rides to were worse than the Indians. From my limited sample, they were the worst of the lot. I can explain their attitude but I won’t do that here.
What surprised me the most was that driving was stressful. I have no problem driving 12 or 14 hours continuously with only a couple of restroom breaks — I have done a few dozen of those. I once did a 1,600 mile (2,000 kms) 19-hour non-stop solo drive from San Jose CA to Vancouver BC without any problem. But driving just four hours for Lyft left me drained.
Like I said before, I like to drive. Had I been born in the US, I would have been a truck driver driving hauling heavy loads on 18-wheelers across the US. Driving is like meditation for me. Long drives free up my mind. I think. I reflect. I meditate. I listen to the inner voice.
I am more relaxed driving than I am as a passenger. As a passenger, I am always afraid that the driver is messing up but when I drive, I know that I am in control. Even after being picked up by a friend after an international flight half way across the world, I always ask if I may drive; I usually end up driving.
My career as a cab driver was short but it was instructive.
When I read W. Somerset Maugham’s “The Razor’s Edge” I was impressed by the Larry Darrell character and his decision to eventually become a New York taxi driver after traveling the world. I wanted to experience that. I dipped my toe into that ocean and I think I learned quite a bit from that.
Now let’s listen to the song “Whose gonna drive you home tonight” by The Cars.
It’s all karma, neh!
NOTES:
[1] My California vanity plate read “NU DEY” — you have to admit that it’s pretty clever. I stress that “Nu” is not short for Atanu. “Nu” is my daak naam. Daak naam is a name that every Bangali gets called at home and is distinct from the bhalo naam which is the formal name. None of my family members ever calls me Atanu. I only allow people very close to me to call me Nu, and the closest who are younger to me are allowed to call me “Nu da”. Dada means elder brother, and da is the short form; didi means elder sister, and di is the short form.
[2] Recently a friend of mine had to add me to his car insurance policy as a regular driver of his two cars. To his surprise that reduced –not increased– his 6-month insurance premium by $400. He’s going to save $800 a year now because of me. That’s part of the benefits of having me as a friend!
Atanu Dey : Life is a Random Draw 
And you are perfectly comfortable with a “NU DEY” on your vanity plate?
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Was I comfortable with “NU DEY” as my vanity plate? I was thrilled since it was very clever. People may think it was a version of “NEW DAY” but it was simply my full name in a sense. If you think it could be misread as “NUDEY”, that’s wrong because there’s a space between NU and DEY. (CA allows up to seven characters on its vanity plates.) Besides, “nudey” is not a valid English word and therefore is not a rude word.
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California normally does not allow vulgar vanity plates !
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I love your description of your experience and it was great that you did this. You got to drive and observe people and gain a new experience.
You drove from San Jose to Vancouver non-stop??? Just thinking about it is making me tired 🙂
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Only a free-spirited guy like Atanu can attempt these.
Sad truth: “Though they (Indian techies) were obviously well paid, they did not tip and were not friendly, unlike the Texans. The worst was a young Indian woman I drove to Austin airport. She was — not to put too fine a point on it — an absolute bitch.
I conjecture why the Indian riders were relatively rude. High status Indians look down on people who serve them. They have never experienced serving others and therefore think that those who serve are not deserving of respect”.
With a more significant sample, interesting facts will revealed — like correlation between regional/linguistic background and how they treats those who serve them.
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Interesting account. People seem to reveal their basest instincts when they’re confident their behavior is private. I am disappointed that the young Indian techies decided not to tip. I am curious to know in what manner that young Indian woman managed to be “an absolute bitch” – I ask, not with gossipy intent, but just wondering how a simple taxi ride can turn so sour for either party.
Re the African-Americans, I wonder if that’s their way of getting back at past slights (justified or not) from Indians. I am speculating, but it’s not, I believe, without foundation.
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Tipping confuses the hell out of me.
In Japan, tipping is typically not done. At least the guidebook says so. I happily obliged.
In the US, tipping seems necessary. No idea how much should it be.
In India, it is completely confusing. My only clarity is when I see a service charge on the bill, I confidently know that I need not tip.
Tipping etiquette is very very confusing.
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Hi Atanu,
Do you also like driving cars on Indian roads? Even I like driving on American roads because the roads are so well built, well maintained and the traffic is well behaved. Driving in California is a real joy, as long as it is not during peak traffic or office commute time.
In America I have only driven 4 wheelers and in India I have only driven 2 wheelers, but I have never looked forward to driving a 4 wheeler on Indian roads( 2 wheelers are fine), I imagine it would be a bit of a pain in the ass.
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I have driven in India (Mumbai and Pune) when I was spending most of my time in India between 2003 and 2009. When I am on a short visit (a month or so) visit to India, I don’t drive. It’s too risky because if someone hits me, I could get stuck in India.
I used to have a Honda Interceptor bike in the US (750 cc) for a while but my co-workers forced me to get rid of it. I used to ride it on weekends at the Skyline Boulevard in the SF Bay area. I’m a bit of a speed freak and I have pushed it to 200 kms per hour. It’s dangerous and fun.
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The maximum speed I have touched is 100 mph on my car, that too only once. Going at 125 mph on a two wheeler is crazy, its like having a deathwish.
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Many interstate highways, particularly in the mostly empty states in the middle of the US, have 85 mph speed limit. There is quite easy to do 100 mph for considerable distances without trouble. I have done that several times (NOTE to highway police — I only do this when it is safe to do so). On a high-powered bike, doing 120 mph is very nice but there must be no other traffic on the road. That again happens quite frequently on many parts of the US. The US is very sparsely populated; most of the population is concentrated along the coasts.
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On a completely unrelated note, have you read the recent SC’s landmark decision on “Students for Fair Admission vs. Harvard” – https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Students_for_Fair_Admissions_v._Harvard
This is something I had posted elsewhere on the interwebs –
Do you have anything to say on the SC’s verdict?
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I agree with you that private schools must have the freedom to discriminate to their hearts’ content. But there’s a complication in the case of private schools that receive public grants. That means, they are not entirely private for-profit institutions and therefore they are subject to the rules that apply to public institutions. Private institutions that say no to govt handouts can do whatever they please.
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