Personal Project 2— Firsthand Experience of Lyft-driving
Simon Sinek, one of the most famous inspiring speakers, once said, “Life is beautiful not because of the things we see or do. Life is beautiful because of the people we meet.”
I was wondering how many new people you met and have a conversation with last week. Was it more than 10, more than 5, Or none at all?
Last week, I had the chance to meet around 50 new people. Here are the stories about two of them. (*I am using their fictitious names here.)
First, Tina’s story. Tina just finished paying $500 for groceries. She was having a hard time maneuvering two heavy shopping carts at the same time. Both carts had peaks like Mount Kilimanjaro. They were almost overflowing with everything, from rice and pasta to bathroom tissue, sugar, fresh pineapple, and so on. They look like an out-and-out survival package for a person who is about to leave for a deserted island.
Tina said, “These groceries are not for me, but they are for my 91-year-old dad. He does not have the mobility to go around outside anymore. He lives by himself because he is not financially able to stay in one of the senior homes or medical care facilities. Twice a month, I buy groceries and necessities for him. If I didn’t do it, he would soon become a homeless person or die from starvation. Supporting him is a big financial burden to me, but isn’t it something that the family has to do? We share pain just like we share joy. We go through bad times as we are willing to go through good times.”
Second, Ela’s story, Ela was wearing a hat and apron, with the TacoBell logo printed on them. She had just finished her part-time, early-morning shift at Taco Bell and was in a hurry to get to school. Ela started this part-time job when she was in high school, and now it’s been four years since she started working at the store. She said she has never been late or absent from work even one single day. Recently, she was promoted to Assistant Store Manager. She is able to manage stock, place orders for food material, cook in the kitchen, and take orders from the customers in the front.
Ela said, “I study math at a college. I love going to school, and I feel rejuvenated there even when I am exhausted from work. Although it will take longer for me to finish school than other full time students, I am very thrilled with my dream of becoming a math teacher. In the future, I want to tell kids that they can become whoever they want to be as long as they do not give up pursuing their dreams.”
Apart from these two individuals, I conversed with several others, including a 25-year-old immigrant from Paraguay, who has three children, a middle-aged man who had just been laid off from a big tech company after working for 36 years, a preschool teacher who was brainstorming ideas for an Easter egg hunt for kids, a young couple who were dining out to celebrate on their third wedding anniversary and so on.
Meeting these incredible individuals was truly inspiring, and prompted me to contemplate how to live a life for others, how to prioritize between family and work, what real love is, etc. They are just like life teachers to me.
Do you know where I met those people? Through something I call “My Passion Project”. As I posted before, I started a personal project to try new things and meet people firsthand. The first one was working part time at a Trader Joe’s as a crew member.
Then, two weeks ago, I started Lyft-driving. I drive about two to three hours a day, giving four to five rides. Not only does Lyft-driving help me make some extra money, more importantly, it also gives me opportunities to talk with many random people who have different backgrounds and life experiences. If I were not doing Lyft-driving, I would have never met them and learned so much about life.
For me, each ride is just like a small philosophy class. Whenever I complete each ride, I remember that quote by Simon Sinek, “Life is beautiful not because of the things we see or do. Life is beautiful because of the people we meet.”
