The first time I heard someone had taken an Uber, I thought it
was a new vaccine—something to help with the gout. But then I learned it was like a taxi
service, only people use their private cars and you have to set up an online
account. Considering there is minimal
demand for taxis in Davidson County, much less Ubers, I never gave it much
thought—until, we planned a trip to New York City.
It had been a
number of years since my wife, Joyce, and I had traveled to the Big Apple. We were celebrating our 40th
Wedding Anniversary and planned a trip to take in some Broadway Shows. I stay about 10 to 20 years behind in all
things fashionable and technological (I’m still trying to figure out how to use
my VHS player), so I told Joyce that we better catch up with the times before
we traveled to New York.
“What do you
mean?” she asked. “Well, we are going to
get around on Uber,” I said. “I don’t
think many people use taxis anymore.”
Joyce was
concerned, and with good reason. “You
don’t do so well with that sort of thing,” she told me.
I went online and
watched tutorials on how to use Uber. I
talked to my brother who travels a lot and uses Uber. Even my grandson told me it was simple. I downloaded the App, set up my account, and
I was ready to go.
We landed at
LaGuardia and after retrieving our luggage; I said, “Now we call for an
Uber.” It just took a second to put the
information in and a message popped up that said our Uber would arrive in 2
minutes. Then my phone rang and guy with
a funny accent (everyone in New York has a funny accent) told me he was our
Uber driver and where to meet him. We
walked to the location he gave us and saw a nice man sitting behind the
wheel. He smiled, loaded our bags in the
back of his SUV, and we were on our way.
“This was much
easier than I thought it would be,” I told Joyce. “I think I like Uber.”
That thought
lasted about 3 minutes until my phone rang again. “This is your Uber driver! Where are you?”
It turns out we
were in the wrong Uber. The Uber driver
we were supposed to have kept calling me, demanding that we return. The driver we had kept telling me to hang up. I finally figured out how to go on my App and
cancel the original request, although it cost me $5 not to mention the $60 cash
I had to pay the guy who gave us the ride.
We finally arrived at our hotel and I said, “Well, I’ve learned a
lesson. I’ll do better next time.”
Only there never
was a next time. I tried to call an Uber
the next day only to be informed no Ubers were available. When we returned to the airport I called for
an Uber. None were available. Hmm, this is New York City and no Ubers are
available? That was when I realized—I’ve
been banned from Uber! Probably for
life!
It sure was good
to get back to Davidson County. When you
make a mistake around here, at least folks will give you a second chance.
Getting in the
wrong Uber is the least of our worries.
We make mistakes, we make bad choices, we hold grudges, we judge people
without knowing the whole story, we mess up---it’s called sin. All of us have sinned and fallen short of the
glory of God.
Jesus is not in
the business of banning people for life.
He prefers to forgive and move on.
To one sinner he said, “Go and sin no more.”
If Jesus was in
charge of Uber he would give me a second chance. Or maybe he would just say, “Go and Uber no
more.”
