Today was the first time I got a glimpse of what Uber and Grab (and taxi) drivers have to go through as part of their job. Little frustrating things that I guess all jobs have.
I booked a GrabShare to pick me up from the vet clinic and drop me home this morning. A GrabShare is effectively a type of ride (private car or taxi) where you can share your ride with someone else who is being picked up and dropped off in similar areas to you, or at least is on the way, effectively splitting the cost of the ride with them.
The driver picked me up, and then two minutes into the ride, he said that he has to go pick up another passenger, which of course he has the right to do, since I signed up for that type of ride. It turned out that the second passenger was in the apartment complex literally across the road from the vet clinic. The only problem was that by the time he had picked me up and we were on our way, to return to my pick-up point would require a series of turns and u-turns to get back there. It would’ve been faster to have walked back, asked the second passenger to walk to the car, and then we would’ve been off our merry way. Even better was if she had called two minutes earlier (or I two minutes later), and the pick-ups would’ve been so swift and easy, and we would’ve been on our merry way in no time. But no, that’s not how it works in the real world. He has no choice but to do these turns and u-turns to pick up the second passenger.
So we finally get to the apartment, and security lets us in. But of course it’s one of those compounds that has multiple buildings, and we can see no one around. No one but us and security. Wth?!? Where is this elusive passenger?? Don’t you want to be seen so we can all go off on our merry way asap?!
Elusive passenger is nowhere to be found, so I think our driver had to text her to tell her that we had arrived.
*poof* She appears out of nowhere, gets into the car, and we all finally go on our merry way.
She gets dropped off literally about three blocks from her apartment complex. OMG. The time it took to book the driver, to wait for the driver, and then to finally drive to the destination would’ve taken just as long as just walking there directly. I. Do. Not. Understand. đ¤ˇââī¸ OK, slight exaggeration, but still. Especially knowing just how far we had to drive around just to return to where we were mere minutes ago, she would’ve been halfway to her destination already.
So elusive driver is dropped off three blocks away, and we finally go on our merry way to my destination. We turn the corner, and wouldn’t you know it: they’re chopping branches off a ginormous tree that lines this multi-lane road that we’re now on. So we’re no longer moving, compelled to stop coz some random guy is standing in the middle of the road holding an octagonal (or is it hexagonal?!) lollipop sign that says “stop” on it đ¤Ē
Frustratement! Luckily the chopping didn’t take very long, and before we knew it, we truly could go on our merry way đ
With Grab and Uber now merging in Asia, I am curious to see how things will change, now that Grab effectively has a monopoly in the region…