Uber Stories: The Boondocks: 10,000 Rides

Staying positive can be a challenge in today’s crazy world. Add in the recent celestial events (a total solar eclipse) and the impending end of summer, and it truly feels like things are spinning out of control at a million mph.

But when I pick up a new passenger, it doesn’t matter what sort of insanity is going on in my own head or the world at large, I am immediately distracted by whatever is going on in their life. I call it uber therapy and I recommend it over betterhelp.com any day. 

So, today I picked a guy up at Pico. Originally from Georgia (the country) and on a vacation from his job as an Uber driver in New York City, Gigi* had spent all day trying to get a ride. His car had broken down on the trip up and he’d had it towed to…somewhere. He just wanted to know if it was done.

One of the biggest challenges in the rural uber game is that the uber app doesn’t understand how Vermont roads/addresses work. And usually when you realize you’re completely lost, there’s no service to help you figure out where you should have gone.

This was one of those rides.

Gigi’s car had been towed to an auto shop in Sudbury/Pittsfield/Brandon (depending on which app you used) appropriately named “Boondock Motors.” 

Gigi had been calling the shop all day and received no answer on the status of his car, but with vacation coming to an end and that NYC energy hard to quell, he just wanted an update, even if it meant taking an uber to the middle of nowhere. And no surprise, it turned out to be in one of those “can’t get here from there locations.” 

Both remote and stunningly gorgeous, Boondocks itself consisted of an acre of broken down vehicles plopped in the middle of corn fields. A log cabin and massive shop completed the property. 

Unfortunately when we got there, we found Gigi’s car locked in the shop, and a field of grazing sheep, but no humans anywhere. We both got out the car, me trying to capture the epic scene in photos and Gigi just hoping for any answers.

Eventually a woman walked out on the porch of the house adjacent and Gigi went up to her to see if she knew anything. 

“I’m just the cleaning lady, but let me ask the kids,” she said.

She came back out and informed us that the owner would be back “soon.” I thanked her and said I’d reach out to my friend who was a “car guy” to see if he might have any ideas. She smiled and thanked me, then went back to cleaning.

With my FB message to the “car guy” yet to be answered, I asked Gigi what he wanted to do and he said, “let’s just go.”

But as we started to pull out, a pick up truck pulled in. I stopped and Gigi hopped out to check with the driver, who had no info for us at all. But a teenage girl offered to run in and call her dad.

Meanwhile, my friend had returned my message and gave me the owner of the shop’s name with a casual, “I stay away from there” sidenote.

Great, I thought.

Cell service was a thing at Boondocks but maybe it wasn’t the best thing. Because with my immediate reaction to google everything, I entered the name and this was the first headline to come up: 

WCAX: Multiple men arrested for stolen ATVs

A little more doomscrolling and then this:

Rutland Herald: Police name woman in death

I showed Gigi the article and we decided that maybe he should just come back tomorrow. Back to Pico we went. This time it was much more direct, but still a 25 minute one-way ride and in total nearly two hours of our time. 

“Well, at least you know where it is now,” I shrugged.

“Yeah, hopefully I can find an uber tomorrow,” he said. 

*names and some other details have been changed for “privacy.” Facts are facts. Do your own research.