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Lyft Driver Talks Karaoke, Gardening And Motherhood

Scarlett Zhiqi Chen |
June 1, 2014 | 11:27 a.m. PDT

Staff Writer

Nelson's Van (Zhiqi Scarlett Chen / Neon Tommy)
Nelson's Van (Zhiqi Scarlett Chen / Neon Tommy)
The silver Chrysler Town & Country minivan looks just like any Lyft car, with its fluffy pink mustache, driving through streets in San Diego. 

When the van stopped to pick up clients at a restaurant on a Friday night, however, driver Vanessa Nelson turned on her flashing neon lights and a silver spinning disco ball in the trunk. She opened the back passenger door and proclaimed:

"Welcome to Karaoke Mood Lyft.” 

Unbeknownst to her customers, however, Nelson is not only a Lyft driver but also the owner of a small gardening business and the mother of seven.

While driving around downtown San Diego on her daily 10-hour shift, Nelson had received a notification from Lyft that Michael Ellis and Ricardo Bahena had requested a car, not far from where she was at the time. Nelson called them to confirm the request and showed up shortly. 

“Wow,” said Ellis and Bahena, their eyes wide open.

Nelson joined Lyft last July, and credits a staff member at Lyft headquarters in San Francisco for inspired her to be creative with her car. Without tacking on extra fees, Nelson decided to treat her passengers with a themed ride; she wants them to have fun. 

“I usually don’t tell them they are about to get a Karaoke Mood Lyft, ” said Nelson. 

Eventually Nelson added a pink cheetah print seat cover and various props—such as a singing Justin Bieber doll, clapping hands and colorful wigs—to add to the ambience.

“This is good,” said Ellis , as he climbed into the van and looked around.

“I feel like we are under dressed for this,” added Bahena. “I guess we have to sing.”

Both Ellis and Bahena are regular Lyft customers. Ellis had taken another themed Lyft before, but a Karaoke Lyft still blew his mind. 

“When I first pick them up, they don’t expect to find Karaoke in my van,” said Nelson. “It’s quiet surprising for them. They get really happy when they start to sing.”

Inside The Van (Zhiqi Scarlett Chen / Neon Tommy)
Inside The Van (Zhiqi Scarlett Chen / Neon Tommy)

Founded in 2012, the San Francisco-based ridesharing transportation network has brought its mobile rides-on-demand platform to 36 U.S. cities. Both the initial car request and the payment are processed by the Lyft mobile application. When a request is made, GPS automatically track the nearest drivers. Whoever responses the first get to pick up the clients.

In San Diego, the price of a Lyft ride is calculated based on a combination of time and distance. According to Lyft, it costs $1.49 per mile and 22 cents per minute.

READ MORE: Lyft: An App Of Questionable Legality That Makes Living In L.A. Without A Car Easier

Nelson passed Bahena her wireless keyboard to let them pick a song.

“Can I sing along?” Nelson asked her passengers.

Nelson Singing Along With Her Clients (Zhiqi Scarlett Chen / Neon Tommy)
Nelson Singing Along With Her Clients (Zhiqi Scarlett Chen / Neon Tommy)
"Of course,” Ellis and Bahena replied. 

After Ellis and Bahena had selected the Shakira song, “Ciega, Sordomuda," Nelson handed them two wireless microphones, rolled her windows down and began to drive.

“Se me acaba el argumento
y la metodología
cada vez que se aparece frente a mi
tu anatomía…." sang the trio.

“Can we drive to L.A. and then come back, ” asked Ellis, when Nelson dropped them off at their friend’s house.

READ MORE: Why Did A L.A. Cab Driver Switch To uberX?

“Driving Lyft is more like a social life to me,” said Nelson.

Because of Lyft, Nelson has met people with various personalities. Once in a while, she would pick up quieter customers who didn’t want to sing and wanted to be left alone, reading their emails or taking a nap. Nelson respects them by either turning off the Karaoke or playing soothing music.    

But most passengers love to sing, said Nelson. 

Far more problematic than quiet customers, however, is the problem of bathrooms. 

“We even had a Facebook group message, ” said Nelson. To “

Nelson Haning Out With Her Lyft Driver Friend (Zhiqi Scarlett Chen / Neon Tommy)
Nelson Haning Out With Her Lyft Driver Friend (Zhiqi Scarlett Chen / Neon Tommy)
share information on where to find a bathroom after most businesses are closed.”

READ MORE: City Tells Ridesharing Services Lyft, Uber And Sidecar To Shut Down

Drivers usually get most of their requests after 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, but at 9:30 p.m. on a Friday night, business was still slow for Nelson, so she decided to stop by at her favorite San Diego café, Babycakes.

Most of the nights, however, before it gets too busy Nelson simply gets a cup of hot Vietnamese coffee to go and uses the bathroom; she needs caffeine to pull the all-nighter.

In addition to the coffee, other Lyft drivers also help Nelson get through the night. When requests are sparse, many of the drivers get together at the parking lot of CVS and Vons on Garnet Avenue and Ingraham Street.

“We talk and do something fun there,” said Nelson. “We will leave the app on and leave if we get a request.”

Some drivers, including Nelson, often come back after the ride to re-join the group. Even when nobody's there, Nelson often stays. "It’s also a way to save gas,” she said.

Nelson Haning Out With Her Lyft Driver Friend (Zhiqi Scarlett Chen / Neon Tommy)
Nelson Haning Out With Her Lyft Driver Friend (Zhiqi Scarlett Chen / Neon Tommy)

Nelson usually spends around $150 per week on gas and earns nearly $700 per week through driving Lyft. 

READ MORE: Wage In Los Angeles: A Look Into Life On The Minimum Wage

While she spends most nights driving singing strangers to their destination, Nelson spends much of her days caring for her kids. This is no small feat considering that Nelson's two stepdaughters, one son from her last marriage and four young children are all under 12 years old and all living with her and her current husband.

Nelson decided to get a mini van to transport her children and the plants for Plant Lovers Delight, her small garden design company.  

Later, she found out that the van has another plus. 

“It was a slow season for my small business,” said Nelson. “My son Joshua overheard that I needed work and he saw a Lyft ad on Facebook.”

Nelson With Her Children (Zhiqi Scarlett Chen / Neon Tommy)
Nelson With Her Children (Zhiqi Scarlett Chen / Neon Tommy)
"Me and my mom would go to downtown to pick up my brother from school, ” said Joshua. “We would see mustaches [on cars] and we asked them why you had mustaches. They explained to us what Lyft was.”

READ MORE: Uber Attracts Drivers From All Walks Of Life

Joshua encouraged Nelson to apply the job. She turned her application in, got a call from Lyft a week later and became a founding Lyft driver after she passed two in-person interviews.

Now, Nelson estimates, there are hundreds of Lyft drivers.  

Everyday around 6 or 7 p.m., after she has dinner with her children, Nelson hangs the pink mustache on the front grills of her van and starts her Lyft job. She usually returns home around 5 a.m. and sleeps for five hours before her children are up.

“My kids are my first priority,” said Nelson. “I always plan my job around my kids' schedules.”

Her children also inspired her to volunteer at Neighborhood House Association (NHA) in San Diego County. 

Four years ago, Nelson sent her kids to the Head Start program at NHA, but she found it was hard to leave her kids. So she decided to volunteer and help NHA grow plants.

READ MORE: A Twist On Edible Gardening In South L.A.

Nelson never received formal gardening training; instead she learned everything from hands-on experience. Her grandfather used to have an orchard in Puebla, Mexico, where she visited every summer. In the orchard, her grandfather grew peach, apple, cherry and many other fruit trees; he also had an eight-acre corn farm. 

After Patrick Maldonado, Nelson’s oldest son from her last marriage, left home for the army, Nelson felt overwhelmed at home with her four younger kids with no help from her older children. She was also experiencing marital problems that led to her eventual divorce.

Nelson Working In Her Backyard (Zhiqi Scarlett Chen / Neon Tommy)
Nelson Working In Her Backyard (Zhiqi Scarlett Chen / Neon Tommy)
 Just a few months of volunteering at NHA, however, helped re-build her confidence, as she took pleasure in teaching young kids how to grow plants. 

“I became more assertive,” said Nelson, who is now a board member at NHA.

At her free time, Nelson loves to tend to her own garden with the help of her children, growing vegetables, fruits and flowers. The family also raises chicken, edible fish and rabbits. While Nelson still goes to the grocery store for milk and bread, she feels more comfortable with the quality of food she and her family raise in their one-acre backyard.

“At my home we're self-sustained,” said Nelson. “I want my kids to have the best food.”

Standing in her backward, Nelson picked two ripe fruit from cactus. She waved to her two youngest boys, who were chasing after each other.

“Come and try this,” Nelson called. 

She checked the time. It was 3:30 p.m., time to nap before her Lyft shift that night.

Contact Staff Writer Scarlett Zhiqi Chen here.



 

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