5:38am this morning.

I walk out my front door to hop in a Waymo.

The Waymo is wrrrrring at the curb. In front of it is another car parked on the street. And double-parked to the left of the Waymo is a dude in a Prius. 

We make eye contact. I give him a “Mornin'” nod and get in the Waymo, assuming he’d move when he sees me get in.

I close the door, buckle up and punch “Start Ride”.

The Prius doesn’t move…. so neither does the Waymo.

I look at the driver. We make eye contact again. I smile and politely motion to ask him to back up. He ignores me.

Getting annoyed, I get out and step in front of the car and – still in a friendly voice – ask him if he could just back up a bit so the Waymo could get out.

He yells through the window “Nah, I’m picking someone up.”

Assuming he’s not playing with a full deck, I politely reply “No, I understand, but I can’t get out if you don’t move back a bit.  So would you mind?”

To which he yelled, “Guess you should have ordered an Uber instead!”

“Wait. Are you serious?” 

“Totally serious. Next time order an Uber!”

I walk to his driver’s side door with some choice words. He records me and says “Go ahead. I’m going to post it and everyone knows where you live.”

I start to laugh at the absurdity of it all.  “Is this really happening right now?” I think out loud.

It dawns on me that it’s pretty good content, so I start recording him.

As I’m filming, I hear a Waymo rep talking from the car. She asked if everything was alright because I started the ride, but hadn’t moved.

I explain the situation and after confirming I wasn’t in any danger, she told me to get in.  

So I hop in and buckle up. The Waymo backs ups and drives around the Uber driver.  

You can imagine what I did as I drove by.

LESSONS:

1. SH!T HAPPENS: In my youth, I thought as long as you’re a good person with good intentions, it’ll all work out. In my 40’s, I realize life isn’t always fair and sh!t happens. On some random morning, a Uber-Activist might target you for his anti-Waymo mission.

2. CULTURE MATTERS: From Dara to the Uber drivers, every experience a customer has with your brand makes an impression. A great culture built with great people fortify your brand. Thanks to one crazy dude who slipped through the cracks, I will never take an Uber (or use Uber Eats) again unless I absolutely have no choice.

3. YOU’RE NOT A TREE That’s a Jim Rohn quote (Tony Robbins’ mentor). What he means is a lot of people would rather complain about their current situation and play the victim than actually do something about it. We’re not trees. You don’t have to stay where you were born or wherever you are right now. 

If you feel threatened by Waymo, go back to school, learn a new skill, get a new job. I’m not sure aggravating an innocent bystander is going to move your ball down the field.

So that was my Tuesday morning. How was yours?