2005-04-11-0251Z


I posted this on the SD Craigslist on the 3rd:

Anyone headed east on Interstate 10? I'll pay $20 for gas and help with daytime driving (my license requires me to wear glasses, which I don't have, but can see well enough during the day) in exchange for dropping me off in Deming. Anytime in the next few days will work for me. I'll meet you anywhere in San Diego, but live in Rosarito.

So I get some replies. Got one early this morning, (shown as received):

Hi There, Leaving for New Mexico on ASpril 11th. Pay some gas and we can get you there, retruning April 17th..Tom

Looks OK so far, right? A pretty clearly worded request, and a reply that would indicate acceptance of the terms? So I respond:

Thanks Tom, was my offer of $20 enough to make you happy? If so, what time and where do we meet tomorrow?

I might go another $20 for the return trip too, but not sure yet.

So you can imagine my surprise when I get:

Wow!! Your a big spender for me to go 200 huindred miles out of the way for $20.00 what else can you offer??...................... Tom

Of course my second reaction after surprise was anger, and in my college days would have resulted in a long sentence of carefully worded insults; but in my old age all I felt like saying was:

I didn't ask for any favors, dude. If you were going I-10, that would be $20 towards your gas expenses. If you're not, then it doesn't make any sense for you or for me.

Rideshare on Craigslist could be beneficial for both driver and rider, and maybe sometimes is, but almost all the time I see the people offering the rides trying to cover their full gas expense, with a little profit tagged on, from just one rider. That's fine if that's the way the rest of you want to play it, but I thought I made it clear that wasn't what I was looking for. I doubt if the incremental weight of my bod and gear, about 170 pounds, will cause more than a dollar or two of extra gas expense (admittedly, I haven't done the math, just guessing). So taking a passenger my size along is pure profit of $18 or so, assuming you're going anyway, with or without him... right?

Oh well, as you were. Ignore my bitching. Keep driving your car, all by yourself, for every trip, long or short, poisoning my air and endangering my life (while you yack on the cellphone, oblivious to pedestrians and bicyclists)... It's your life, and you have to live it to the max, to hell with everybody else.

Back to blog or home page

last updated 2013-01-10 20:36:05. served from tektonic.jcomeau.com