The same weekend I got the
Lyft link text from my friend, I set up my Lyft account. I was still unsure as to what Lyft was, but was curious enough and coupled with the simple fact I was SO OVER the repeatedly
rude treatment I got from LA cab drivers, it was worth a shot to at least set up an account on my phone. It took just a few minutes and voila! A cute little floating balloon icon was now on my phone's home screen.
On April 3rd, I was meeting the same friend who told me about Lyft for dinner so decided it would be the perfect time to give it a whirl. I touched the little floating balloon on my screen, the GPS tracked my location and with a couple of quick finger touches, I requested a Lyft! A few seconds later, a Tinkerbell-like sound floated a response to me. My Lyft driver, Dylan, was only 3 minutes away. On my screen were two photos: a friendly, smiling face and the type of car that would be picking me up. That was easy.
I stepped outside to wait and moments later, a car with a giant pink, furry mustache pulled up. (
So, that's what those are, I thought!) The car matched the photo on my phone so I knew it was my Lyft ride. I opened the front passenger door and Dylan greeted me with a huge smile, an upbeat "hello" and extended his hand towards me inviting a fistbump you only ever get as a kudos for saying and/or doing something completely awesome or a form of secret handshake that's reserved only for your besties. My fist met his and before I could ask if it was okay if I sat up front, Dylan said, "Hop on in, where are we going?" I immediately began apologizing that I wasn't going far, explaining that I'm not too lazy to walk, that I have on heels...blah, blah, blah. (
I was so used to explaining myself to cab drivers at this point!) Dylan laughed and said, "No worries! Do you need to stop anywhere along the way? Can I offer you a water? Snack? Do you need a cell phone charger?"
WHAT?
Is this for real, I thought to myself? All the simple things a person wants. Really? I was in a bit of shock. Clean car. Check! Friendly driver. Check! A smile. Check! And then the added water, snacks, phone charger, polite offer to stop? I couldn't believe my ears. I know this sounds like an exaggeration, but I have had so many horrible cab experiences that I felt like I was on some other planet. A planet with flying, floating happy cars that donned pink mustaches with friendly drivers behind the wheel who felt like friends within 3 seconds of meeting...errrr.....fistbumping.
Dylan ended up stopping at three stores for me, navigating through traffic carefully, respectfully and as if I were precious cargo he had to deliver in mint condition. Come on, have you ever ridden in a cab? Precious cargo you are not. On top of that, Dylan and I had a great conversation about music and he gave me the name of some new awesome artists to check out. Instant BFFs. I was so impressed, I made sure I knew how to spell Dylan's name right so I could immediately send my gratitude over the omnipresent social media world! I sent my first tweet about Lyft just as we were arriving to my destination.
There was no turning back for me. I wanted to find the person/people behind this pink mustache Lyft phenomenon and give him/her/them a giant hug, kiss, fistbump...whatever! All I knew was I was very, very happy and knew this was the beginning of a beautiful Lyftlationship.
Fast forward to now and next week will be my
three month Lyftiversary!
