Rideshare On Bradenton Beach 🌴

追加: 2026-06-01

[00:00:00]What's up everybody? This is Jose from Southern Life. Welcome to Brighton Beach. On today's video, we're going to set out to see how long it takes to make $100 on Brandon Beach. Doing ride share and the typical crazy experiences of passengers on the island. to make $100 took 11 trips, 5 hours, and even then, we didn't really reach the $100 threshold, except for I did get a $5 tip, which brings a total to $101.

[00:00:32]We spent $18 on gas, meaning that the out the-do profit was $16 an hour. And that's not really ideal, but hey, it's the reality of Uber driving in Florida.

[00:00:43]Let's get started with today's video. I also went metal detecting on the island and you won't believe what I found. The most challenging thing dealing with some of the most irritating Long Island passengers I've ever had. Older females that got way too touchy and their conversation got way too dirty. Let's get into this. What's up everybody? This is Jose from Southern Life.

[00:01:09]>> I tell you what, dang old Uber passenger down there. That old passenger man down there. Everything on just two of them passengers down there. I appreciate you, man. Oh, you feel me? Vomiting in my car. No pooping, no vomiting, no diarrhea, no gorrhea, you feel me?

[00:01:27]>> This is a really nice truck.

[00:01:29]>> Thank you. You should save the monthly payments on it.

[00:01:32]>> I bet.

[00:01:33]>> Thanks to a generous $6 tip, this ride came out to $23 and it was completed in 36 minutes. And it took me from Lakewood Ranch all the way out to West Bington, which is where I wanted to be because the goal was to spend the day Uber driving along the beaches. Highway 70, it's under construction. Total nightmare. The amount of construction in Lakewood Ranch is absurd. On Highway 70, we ran into this idiot hauling this mattress. Notice how now it's leaning to the left side of the truck, but eventually it decided to end up on the right side of the truck at full speed down Highway 70. It must have not been tied down. My passenger nearly had a heart attack. Good thing he stopped in the middle of the highway with a green light to try to fix it in the middle of the road. I mean, that just made perfect sense as well. Then some idiots in a rush started honking the horn at him.

[00:02:23]So, he just hopped back in the truck and drove off at full speed again. A/4 mile down the road, a car turning left here nearly caused an accident behind us. A passenger was going to the Cox dealership in West Bradon and they said their vehicle had been here for a very long time and they didn't want to talk about it. They were very angry. But people having trouble with newer GM vehicles uh kind of became a theme on today's video because uh well, you'll see. So, now we're almost to Bradington Beach. I got a passenger out of the Dollar General here. There's actually a huge homeless camp behind this Dollar General. You can actually smell it from the road. A while back, a person died at this homeless camp after the hurricanes, and another homeless person found the body. You can literally smell the human feces and wet carpets from the highway here.

[00:03:11]>> I wish I live closer to the water.

[00:03:13]>> My apartment's over here. They have openings, one bedrooms, and it's right there, like where I'm at.

[00:03:18]>> I'm on the water basically. So, I have two kayaks. So, we drop off this person in a cute little neighborhood on the north side of Cortez where I discovered a rotting older General Motors that will probably outlast my truck and end up with 26es of when my boy sees this thing. This thing is mint, bro. Notice the beautiful Royal Pon Sienna tree on the right. Now, this neighborhood, as you can see up ahead, is just a few feet above sea level. So, with the recent hurricanes, all these houses flooded.

[00:03:45]Over a year later, you can kind of still tell that this area had some hurricane destruction. This is a neighborhood called Cortez in West Bradon. It looks very old Florida. Since it flooded, many people here have started to jack up their houses and mobile homes in an effort to prevent future flooding and litigate the high cost of insurance. But you figure you're surrounded by more water than land out here. This is actually Cortez Village here. It's a little area just to the west of Bradenton. All this area is literally just a couple feet above sea level. Now, this lady was so sweet and kind and generous, guys. She gave me a $3 tip on a $6 ride. And thanks to these two generous passengers, we are now crossing the bridge to end up on Brandon Beach.

[00:04:32]As soon as we landed on the island, we instantly got a trip heading southbound.

[00:04:37]To the right of us is the restaurant where me and Katie just celebrated our 17th anniversary. Kind of two weeks early. It's not like their food's really good. It really isn't. It's just the location is spectacular right on the water. Braon Beach has definitely cleaned up since the hurricanes. It's not perfect, but it's nice and beach viby again. So, we're going to pick up our passenger here. This ride paid $6, and so far he hasn't tipped. Notice that the pay rate is more than twice the mileage. That's usually a good thing right there for the pay rate. I thought they were going to demolish this mobile home park. Does anybody know what's really happening back here anymore?

[00:05:14]They're planning to evict all the residents so that they can make some giant development. But it doesn't seem like there's much going on right now.

[00:05:21]So, if you're a local and you know what's going on, let me know. Passenger on board conversation gets started. We seem to have a lot in common. Mostly dealing with General Motors. That's uh the second passenger today upset at General Motors. What are the chances, right? These dealerships have figured out a loophole where they can sell you a lemon in Florida and not have to worry about you getting a lemon lawsuit. They exploit the state's vulnerable laws that leave the people exposed and well, they're making a kill and screwing people like you and me over. The state of Florida has some of the worst laws at this point. It used to be a state that was transcending when it came to lawmaking. But right now, the state of Florida has just been exploited by lawyers who find loopholes for every single law to screw over the people of this state. From insurance to healthc care, the auto industry, you name it.

[00:06:15]The big corporations are getting rich screwing over the regular people in Florida. And the amount of corporations that are screwing people over a left and right. I've dealt with so much of these issues while living in Florida. From the time I got hurt and had an accident to the recent issues with General Motors, I have just about had it with the state of Florida and the corruption that exists here. People don't realize how vulnerable you are on paper in a state like Florida where the big corporations have lobbied their way into everything in the state. Listen to this guy's ordeal. It sounds very similar to mine.

[00:06:50]>> It's funny you ask. Uh, no, I didn't have that problem, but I did have the motor replaced after driving it off the lot with 13 miles on it 200 miles later.

[00:06:58]>> Um, I put a uh >> I put an exhaust and intake on it and uh the intake was a KN&N and KN&N from the factory apparently didn't drill out one of the release uh seals.

[00:07:13]>> Yeah.

[00:07:13]>> For the line. And so it's basically dumping a bunch of pressure back into the motor rather than releasing it throughout the rear main >> seal. That'll do it.

[00:07:21]>> Yep. So I'm fine with the dealership, GM, and KN&N cuz the dealership's like, "Oh, okay. Well, we hear bearing noise, so something shattered. We're just going to replace the motor." They didn't diagnose it.

[00:07:36]>> And then uh they replace the motor and I get it back. I driving it again. It's leaking again. Cann confirm they're going to pay until the dealership gets built back. It's just all a bunch of [ __ ] dude.

[00:07:47]>> I got three lawyers on this one right here.

[00:07:49]>> Yeah. Oh, no kidding.

[00:07:50]>> What's going on with this engine, transmission, electrical since new, and they just keep kicking the ball back between each other.

[00:07:57]>> Yeah.

[00:07:57]>> The GM kicks it to to the dealership.

[00:08:00]The dealership kicks it to GM. GM kicks it to the warranty company.

[00:08:04]>> Mhm.

[00:08:04]>> They they all kick the ball back between each other.

[00:08:07]>> Yeah, man. It's [ __ ] >> It's a game they're playing. I'm never buying. And I've been a fan. Like, bro, I'm not rich. For me to buy this truck, this is my life.

[00:08:17]>> Yep.

[00:08:17]>> Net worth, you could say, cuz I'm not rich.

[00:08:19]>> Yeah.

[00:08:20]>> I put all the money in the world, all the money that I have, and I get this truck because I've been with GM my whole life.

[00:08:26]>> Same.

[00:08:28]>> I'm never buying General Motors again, >> man. Honestly, I'm kind of in the same opinion. If I have more problems with this thing, like, I'm going to lemon it.

[00:08:35]I'm going to get my money back.

[00:08:37]>> They They'll make sure you can't lemon it. That's what I've been told. So, I just got >> So, now the the the listen listen, the dealership is going to want to put that repair on anything but your warranty.

[00:08:49]So, even if you've had more than one repair, right, they're going to grab that repair that General Motor should pay for because look, Florida's lemon law says that the the manufacturer's warranties for the lemon law. So what they do is they'll start putting those repairs on other warranties for other people so it doesn't go back on your they don't want to they'll never put the limon law repair on the on the GM's warrant warranty manufacturers's warranty because that's how the limit law works.

[00:09:18]So that they're going to try to kick the ball to somebody else either an extended warranty or whatever >> because the the they know how to work around the laws.

[00:09:26]>> Yeah. Well, and I already I was already told that um under under GM's interpretation of everything after reviewing like all my repair orders, mind you, it's been backed three different times.

[00:09:39]>> Um I don't qualify for lemon anyway.

[00:09:42]>> And I'm like, well, if I wanted to fight you guys on that, >> you know, [ __ ] >> They know the law. You don't.

[00:09:46]>> Yeah, exactly.

[00:09:47]>> They screw over millions of people every year.

[00:09:49]>> You're not stronger than the system.

[00:09:50]>> 100%. The one thing I have going for me though, cuz I assume they they disqualify me from that because the the aftermarket intake is what caused the failure, caused the issue.

[00:10:01]>> I assume they're going to disqualif me from that because of that. However, I had the dealership put that exhaust and intake on. They handled all of the the purchasing of it, the install. I didn't touch the vehicle until those things were on there.

[00:10:16]>> So, that's the only thing I have going.

[00:10:18]>> Same thing with this. Yeah, >> they did the lift kit that did everything else.

[00:10:21]>> Mhm.

[00:10:22]>> So, basically the way it really works is it has to be on the manufacturer's warranty for it to be a lemon. So, they're going to use your extended warranty if you bought one and call it that way.

[00:10:31]>> Yeah.

[00:10:32]>> So, that when you go to sue you don't have a lawsuit. So, don't think you have a limit law.

[00:10:35]>> Yeah. No, it's a good call.

[00:10:36]>> They screw us all over, bro. Well, the name says economy.

[00:10:39]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:10:40]>> Yeah. That sucks, man. I'm sorry you're dealing with that.

[00:10:44]>> I'm hoping you're dealing with I didn't want to lemon. I don't want to limit it.

[00:10:47]I love the truck. Bro, >> I just like want to be done with the issues.

[00:10:51]>> Oh, >> yeah. It's unfortunate, man.

[00:10:54]>> They're screwing everybody over.

[00:10:56]>> Yeah.

[00:10:56]>> And all they do is they code it under a different warranty.

[00:11:00]>> Like in their case, you really think they're going they should be Listen, they should be blaming you for the aftermarket part. But why do you think they're going after K&M?

[00:11:10]>> They're going after them because then they can code it under their warranty.

[00:11:13]>> Yeah. And they don't if they don't if they call it under the manufacturers's warranty, then then that's when it starts to look bad on them for lemon wall.

[00:11:21]>> But hey, you know what? They're not going to get another dollar for me.

[00:11:23]>> No.

[00:11:24]>> My next car when I get out of this thing, I'm going to get a the last V8 Toyota made either a Lexus GX460 or a Tundra or something.

[00:11:32]>> I've always been a GM guy, but after what they've done to me, bro, I'm done.

[00:11:36]I think I think too they're they're cutting corners, putting putting cheaper materials and labor into all these vehicles coming straight off the line so that they do fail and people are stuck buying a new vehicle. Like I that's all right, man. Well, I appreciate it.

[00:11:58]>> Have a good day, brother.

[00:12:00]>> This restaurant here is called the Shore. It's a fine dining restaurant.

[00:12:04]I've never eaten at this one, but I've eaten at the one right next to it called Dock Side. These types of restaurants are very nice for a good expensive dinner out, but it's not the type of place where the food's great. You're usually paying for the setting, for the ambiance, and of course for the waterfront view. It's located on the northern tip of Longboat Key, just south of Coina Beach. It's a beautiful historic area. These restaurants have incredible settings, beautiful places to spend the evening, but like I said, they're not known for great food. It's just the setting you're paying for. Now, I stopped for a minute because at this point, my batteries were almost dead on the GoPros, so I have to swap all the batteries. When I stopped here in the shade, I noticed a beautiful large peacock underneath the coconut trees. I had no idea there were peacocks here on the island, so that's pretty cool. New battery in the GoPro situated. We start moving north again. We cross out of Longboat Key. Notice it's extreme low tide right now. That got me thinking I need to do some metal detecting. So, I figured I'll take one or two more passengers, but then I'm going to take a break and spend some time on the beaches. Ahead of us on the left, this is Coina Beach. To the right of us is an island that has houses, but these houses are only accessible by boat. There's actually a house for sale there for $5 million.

[00:13:30]In the distance behind me, you can actually get a clear shot all the way to downtown Sarasota from here. It's far off into the distance, but it's there.

[00:13:39]Coina Beach on the southern tip of Bradenton Beach. Free beach parking. You can't beat that. on the right, the Brandon Beach city limit sign. We're back on Brandon Beach. There's still a few houses on the right that have fresh hurricane damage from last year. A few other houses, they've had to demolish them completely. I absolutely love Brandon Beach. On the left, you have free beach parking. Unfortunately, officials in Manatee County are trying to get rid of free beach parking. One of the greatest assets of this area. For me, being able to work on the island and take breaks throughout the day means that I'm able to serve the people of this island more effectively. If there wasn't free beach parking here, I'm not sure I'd spend so much time on this island. And me spending time on this island isn't just about me enjoying myself. It's me being able to work for the people that live and vacation on this island. It seems like anything good Florida has to offer is being stripped away on a daily basis. It is so disappointing to see how far to crap this state has gone. It's good to see businesses finally start to open again.

[00:14:51]You have to remember that this entire island was underwater during the last hurricanes and almost every single structure here had water intrusion.

[00:15:00]Things here have had to recover very quickly and thankfully things are starting to feel normal on Brandon Beach. I always enjoy the time that I have by myself in the car without passengers where I can listen to my music loud, the music that I like because of course when you have passengers, you kind of have to cater to what they want, not what you want to do.

[00:15:21]Arriving to my passenger's destination, there were elderly people so I got out to help them.

[00:15:27]>> Sorry for the delay. I got caught behind one of those city buses.

[00:15:31]>> The whole the whole way here. I'm sorry.

[00:15:33]>> We literally just got here. Yeah, we're on island time. Yeah, like I got stuck behind one of these buses. I'm like, they're going to cancel on me. Where's home for you guys?

[00:15:41]>> Minnesota.

[00:15:42]>> Minnesota or Minnesota.

[00:15:46]>> Here, let me say it for you. Minnesota.

[00:15:48]>> There you go. All right.

[00:15:51]>> Any one of you guys can stretch it more than that.

[00:15:53]>> Yeah. Yeah. You know, >> he's from New Jersey.

[00:15:56]>> He's Jersey.

[00:15:57]>> He's a Jersey.

[00:16:00]>> I love that real min. I used to live in Naples and we used to have a lot of Midwestern people there and I don't know what part of Minnesota these people were but they would stretch that.

[00:16:10]>> Hey, >> for sure.

[00:16:11]>> They would just >> The drunker you get the >> Yeah. the more >> accent they say soda like my brother's bus and I got soda >> bags you know.

[00:16:23]>> Yeah.

[00:16:24]>> And it's hard.

[00:16:25]>> Yeah. Yeah. And it's hard to like ever have a problem with somebody from Minnesota cuz it sounds so friendly. It is >> like I couldn't see somebody from Minnesota like can you move out of my way? Hey or something like I just couldn't >> could you please move out of the way?

[00:16:38]Hey, like >> yeah.

[00:16:40]>> Sorry. I can't >> talk to strangers too.

[00:16:42]>> I can't run over white women. I'll get deported.

[00:16:45]>> You'd be going to have to slow down a little bit.

[00:16:49]Like they didn't deport me for the hit and run on that old band, but if I hit a white woman, I'm pretty sure that'll be the final straw for me out here. It's >> like I got enough problems without hitting a white woman out here.

[00:17:04]>> Well, it I'm going to be honest, the food wasn't that good. It's the ambiance. It's very nice. You know, you're eating on the water.

[00:17:10]>> Yeah. Do you recommend anything?

[00:17:12]>> Uh, from what we had, let me see. The shrimp with the little um coconut shrimp.

[00:17:17]>> Oh, yeah. Jason decent.

[00:17:18]>> Very good.

[00:17:19]>> Okay.

[00:17:21]>> Um, I had a I think I had a burger. I didn't think it was all that. I mean, our seafood's from the Gulf. You might get a disease or something. You might get flesh eating bacteria down here.

[00:17:33]Yeah. I don't I wouldn't eat anything out of that golf down there, but All right.

[00:17:38]I'm like, you might want to go somewhere with better water if you're coming here for the food.

[00:17:42]>> Really?

[00:17:43]>> Try Maine or something. I'm not sure.

[00:17:45]>> Are you serious?

[00:17:46]>> I don't know.

[00:17:47]>> For here.

[00:17:49]>> Are you sure? I mean, like, we've had 15 ft of storm surge and >> Oh, dang. in Fort Myers. And >> I'm pretty sure every one of these houses 50 gallons of paint in the garage.

[00:17:58]>> Oh man.

[00:17:59]>> You eat a shrimp. We We had a rainbow shrimp down in Florida.

[00:18:02]>> Yep.

[00:18:03]>> Yep. It was all colors inside from all the chemicals in it.

[00:18:07]>> We had a rainbow shrimp. We sliced that shrimp up. It had 10 different flavors.

[00:18:11]>> Oh my word.

[00:18:12]>> This is a company that sells all that pink [ __ ] >> It was a Charm Williams tasting type of shrimp down there in Florida.

[00:18:19]>> So you're saying avoid the seafood?

[00:18:21]>> I don't know. No, I you didn't hear it for me. I come here for the views, palm trees, and warm weather. I'm not sure about the seafood here.

[00:18:27]>> Oh my god.

[00:18:28]>> Hey, that's >> unless unless you got a good life insurance policy on somebody, I wouldn't get the seafood.

[00:18:34]>> My god. Thanks for the tip.

[00:18:37]>> Yeah.

[00:18:41]>> Are you guys going over there?

[00:18:42]>> Yeah. You don't.

[00:18:44]>> Oh, I'll get you closer. Is Is this where you're going?

[00:18:47]>> Yeah, I think.

[00:18:48]>> Let me see if I can park you guys somewhere safe. I want to make sure you're safe. You know what? I'm going to put you on this little curb here cuz it's got a nice little race curb. Don't be worried about me get on a curb. I'll get right off it. But it's going to make your life easier because you're going to be able to drop now.

[00:18:59]>> I thought I quit working. Why is this me trying to get me to work?

[00:19:03]>> Thank you.

[00:19:03]>> You're going to be right on a curb right there. So, it should be easy for you guys.

[00:19:07]>> There you go. Is that a lot better?

[00:19:08]>> Have a good night.

[00:19:09]>> Have fun, guys.

[00:19:10]>> Uh-huh.

[00:19:14]>> Have fun, guys.

[00:19:15]>> Thank you.

[00:19:16]>> All right.

[00:19:20]I don't know what they going to do to that old guy down there with them shrimp.

[00:19:25]She said sinks from that tip.

[00:19:29]Oh man.

[00:19:31]Oh, I'm not going to take that old man in that porn man. Scared. They scared that old man with that one, man. Oh, man. That's That's hilarious. Them people were fun. Midwestern people are freaking great, man.

[00:19:44]All right, guys. So, we are on the beach now. I'm going to turn the app off and go for a little break. Um, you know, just relax a little bit. I've been driving for a few hours. Make my back stretch out. Those people were fun.

[00:19:57]And the jokes were definitely uh that was something right there.

[00:20:05]That is gold right there, y'all.

[00:20:12]Well, get that crap off the road.

[00:20:25]Roundabout. Roundabout.

[00:20:28]How would a Midwesterner say roundabout?

[00:20:30]Roundabout.

[00:20:32]All right, let's go to the beach for a minute, y'all.

[00:20:36]Those people were funny, bro. That That right there is why you do ride share. That right there. That right there is why you do ride share. Want to mow detect for a little bit. Stretch out my legs a little. Free parking is what I love about Florida's uh manatee in Sarasota County. You can't beat free beach parking.

[00:21:01]If I can figure out how to park without crashing into things. You can rent a car that has the same engine and transmission as my truck from U-Haul for $20 a day. I wonder how long it takes to swap an engine. I got to be pampering, man. I can't be out here in some old piece of crap. Like, how am I going to come to a country like the United States to drive an old car? If I was to drive an old car, I would have moved to Dominick Republic. So, we're going to melt the tech on the beach and get a little bit of walking and exercise in.

[00:21:29]We'll see what happens.

[00:21:39]Somebody was shaving there. That's homeless people. Yeah, it's herb. They left.

[00:21:52]I think the tide's coming back in.

[00:22:08]There it is.

[00:22:10]No freaking way.

[00:22:13]Yeah, buddy.

[00:22:15]Yeah, buddy.

[00:22:19]That does not look real, but it is still a freaking cool find. All right, guys.

[00:22:23]So, round one wasn't bad. So, let's get out there and see if there's more jewelry to be discovered. This is the great thing about metal detecting extreme low tide.

[00:22:40]All right, God's starting to come back in. We got limited time. I got to work and I got to provide like everybody else. But I love my life, bro. I'm very content with what I got in life, you know? I go home to my wife and my dog, to my nice clean apartment in Lakewood Ranch. I eat whatever I want to eat every single day.

[00:23:02]It's true. Over the last year, we've had to cut back a little bit on eating out and stuff like that, but I still eat good every day. I enjoy life. I I have pleasure in my life every day, and I have a few agitations here and there, but I'm not complaining at all, man. I love the life I live and I enjoy it to the max.

[00:23:27]The tide's coming in on us.

[00:23:35]No freaking way.

[00:23:38]>> Second one today.

[00:23:39]>> What is it? That >> woman's uh earring.

[00:23:41]>> Oh wow.

[00:23:42]>> That's the second one today.

[00:23:44]You >> got good eyes. Cool.

[00:23:47]What's >> that? Got to see if it's real or not.

[00:23:49]>> Yeah, >> that's the second one today.

[00:23:52]>> Oh, that's cool.

[00:23:53]>> I'm on a roll today, man.

[00:23:55]>> Yeah.

[00:23:55]>> I don't know if it's real or not.

[00:24:00]Awesome.

[00:24:01]I'm on a roll today, y'all.

[00:24:06]All right, guys. So, I took a break to go metal detecting on Braon Beach, and I found two women gold rings. Quite the find.

[00:24:17]Uh, normally metal detecting you don't find anything. So, I don't know if it's real gold. It probably isn't. But if it was real gold, uh, we've probably made more money on the gold than on the Uber because so far today we've only made like $46. Nobody's tip yet that I've noticed. Um, it is extreme low tide and that's probably why metal detecting was so nice because hey, extreme low tide, right? All the sand's exposed. Now, we're going to get somebody on Lomboat Key. Uh, it's a rich, fancy area. It's only a $6 ride, but because it's a rich area, there's always the potential for a larger tip.

[00:24:57]So, hopefully we can satisfy this passenger and get a good tip because today has been awful. I mean, it's 8:00 and we've only made $46.

[00:25:07]This ride paid under $7 and it was done in 10 minutes. We're driving down Gulf of Mexico Drive across beautiful Coina Island. We enter Lombo Key and pick them up. They're going back to a restaurant on Cortez. There was two females. I found them kind of peculiar in an uncomfortable way. I'm not really sure why they were so just off-putting, but it wasn't the most pleasant ride. Not that they did anything wrong. It was just I didn't really like the vibe and uh they didn't tip yet. So, dropped them off at this restaurant in the water and was glad this ride was over. I guess what I personally didn't like about these passengers is that they tried to sound like they were articulate or you like they try to sound like they're rich or fancy. And bro, I lived in Naples, Florida for 20 years, so I can kind of tell a difference between real and fake.

[00:26:02]And there's a lot of fake coming through. Sometimes you get people that like to pretend like they're rich. The problem is that I lived in Naples for 20 years and boy am I familiar with what real rich people act and look like and these people just didn't fit the profile. These are people that do a lot of named dropping and placed dropping to make their conversation seem like it's rich. But people who are actually wealthy don't do that. Like you can tell when somebody's classy and rich and wealthy and you can tell when somebody's named dropping things to try to make themselves sound like they're rich. So, I don't know why these women were trying to stunt on me like they were rich, but definitely I didn't see it and I don't know it and didn't recognize it. And like I said, after living in Naples, Florida for 20 years, like I kind of know what real rich people are like and name dropping and stuff like that just isn't it. On top of that, they had some really weird stories that I I don't know. It was just bizarre. Just uh weird. Didn't really like these passengers at all. All right, guys. So, rides were pretty steady and we instantly got another ride. So, a pretty consistent problem that I had throughout the whole night is passengers who are not waiting in safe places. Like, these people acted like I was going to stop on the road. Like, you really think I'm going to stop the whole Gulf of Mexico drive for you? That's not going to happen. So, I had to pull into this driveway and it seemed like throughout the entire night, I had this happen several times where the passengers kind of force you into an unsafe pickup location. This was one of them. Now, once it gets dark, driving on the island is really inconvenient. There's a lot of pedestrians. Many of them are not sober.

[00:27:39]They don't have to be. They're on an island. They're not driving. So, if you're driving, you have to be extra careful because there's a huge volume of pedestrians. And many times, they're not paying too much attention. So, from here on, once it gets dark, you got to really pay attention, especially after dinner time, people have a couple drinks with their dinner. So, now you really got to pay attention. There's also a lot of golf carts on the island. And you know that's not like a vehicle. So they're much more dangerous. So you got to really be careful. Now as soon as it gets dark on the island, pedestrians really become an issue. And you know it's kind of nerve-wracking driving on the island once it gets dark. These passengers were a young couple from Oklahoma on vacation. We had some great laughs, some great Oklahoma jokes. You know, for being this time of the year, it was actually pretty busy on Bradenton Beach. I was actually surprised at how many people were out here for being this time of the year. And there were some people from Orlando, some people from other parts of the state that don't have beaches that got to come down here for our beaches. That's pretty normal during the summer. There are still people from out of state. I got people from Georgia, from Oklahoma, from Minnesota, from Michigan. So, it seemed like the night was actually pretty busy with a lot of people from out of state, but they're not really like in huge numbers. And then, of course, you also have the locals to enjoy the beaches. So, we dropped them off. And it seemed like when it came to these short rides, they were plentiful. The problem with these short rides, and they're very plentiful, they're back to back, back to back, but if they're not tipping, you're not going to make a decent profit. They're three or4 dollar rides and you can only do so many of those in an hour. So if they don't tip you, you're not going to make more than $167 an hour. If they tip, you can make as much as $30ome an hour. Now, unfortunately, for some reason that I don't understand, almost nobody tipped.

[00:29:38]I did a bunch of these small rides and they had a good time. They laughed, they enjoyed themselves, but then they didn't tip. So, that's definitely not good. And I probably wouldn't work this route again because I'm focusing on routes where I can make at least $25 an hour.

[00:29:54]And right now, there are plenty of rides here, but they simply weren't tipping.

[00:30:00]In some circumstances, people tip, but I think the problem is that many of the people that are vacationing here are much younger people, and there's just a thing where young people don't tip as much. And at the end of the day, that's good for them, but I'm definitely not going to cater to them in the future.

[00:30:18]So, working Branson Beach, I seemed to have got so many rides that if they had been tipping, it would have been an incredible night. But unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Passengers were plentiful. Rides were back to back, but with extremely low pay and very few tips, it didn't make sense to continue doing this area. and hopping on and off the island gets pretty repetitive pretty quick. We picked up a young couple from Georgia and we hopped back on the island for them. Now, this couple had a great conversation. They had very heavy southern accents. Uh kind of very similar to Alabama. They just had that real heavy southern draw. Now, they were talking about wanting to move down here to Florida. They were asking me about the job market. And I was pretty straightforward about how challenging it is to live here, how expensive life is.

[00:31:10]And then he went on about how, you know, insurance rates here are ridiculous. I'm like, so definitely not ideal to live here in Florida. They're from a small town in South Georgia where things are affordable. I've been to their town. The town's got good food. It's not like a perfect town, but it's definitely not a bad place to be from and things there are definitely a lot more accessible and affordable for a young couple than here.

[00:31:35]You know, life here is not easy for young people. So, um, a lot of people vacation down here and they love the beach vibes, you know, but then they realize that the cost and feasibility of living here is not easy. And yes, it is beautiful. The vibes are incredible, but this isn't a realistic lifestyle. And I try to help the young people that are vacationing know that because many people vacation here and they fall in love with the vibe and, you know, they understand, you know, the cost of living, but they may not understand how much more competitive jobs are. They may not really understand how high auto insurance is, how high homeowners insurance is. You know, like they might think they can move down here, work, and pay a mortgage together. And most likely that's not going to happen. The job market here isn't as good as in other places. Jobs pay less, life costs more, and it becomes a massive aggravation for people. So, I tell them, you know, if you're able to come down here a few times a year, I wouldn't change anything where you're at. Being able to work on Brandon Beach was a joy. Like money aside, the experience of being on the island and dealing with people that are on vacation is so much more enjoyable than dealing with regular 9 to5 people.

[00:32:49]We drop our passengers off at the Ugly Grouper. That's the restaurant right there on the left. It stays busy and packed almost every single night. Our next passengers were right on Marina Drive. And just like the previous passengers, they were trying to get picked up at a very unsafe place. So I actually had to scream out the window to tell them to come across the street to use the crosswalk. So they're somewhere on the left right now. You probably won't be able to see them. It's too dark. But basically, they were again trying to get me to stop to pick them up right on the road. It's not a safe place to pick up. So, I kind of uh motioned to them to meet me over here by the crosswork where it was safer. And this was kind of like a reoccurring theme of Branson Beach. The passengers overall, 60 to 80% of them simply do not care about safety. Notice the squatted trucks. These things are all over the islands these days. But basically, I pulled up to the crosswalk. Passenger with some hand motions and gestures about why I'm making them walk across the street. It seems like overall it's almost pointless even trying to explain to people that you can't stop in the middle of the road to pick them up. I mean, for one, it is illegal. Law enforcement will give you a ticket for this. And it's not just any ticket. It's a type of ticket that will give you points and then ride share companies will not let you drive for them if you get a ticket for picking up somebody inappropriately or stopping on the road.

[00:34:24]So, it's one of those deals where the law is pretty freaking straightforward and you know, you shouldn't be stopping on the road to pick up people. And it doesn't matter how nice and courteous you are about explaining to your passengers that this is unsafe. You can't do it. You're going to get a ticket. They don't want to hear it. And if you say it, then they get mad at you.

[00:34:45]And for sure, they don't tip. And you know, I've been going along with people and not telling them about it. you know, just acting like this is where I stop type of thing. But it's really a problem. Some people will literally walk towards your vehicle as it's moving and try to get in it even though you've made no gesture to stop or you don't have any intention to stop. They should see the vehicle pull up and they walk up and try to pull on the handles while you're moving if you can't stop. And if you have to slow down a little bit for something, they'll act like they're going to get and start yanking on the door handles. They could get hurt doing that. You know what I mean? It's a very inconsiderate thing that a lot of passengers do, especially on these beachy areas. And please believe that if you try to correct them or tell them not to do that, they're going to get aggravated. Another aggravation with driving on the islands is how narrow these driveways are. You could easily damage plants, lighting, structures, buildings. Especially with a big truck like I have. It's almost impossible driving in and out of some of these driveways. They're very thin. They're very narrow. They have to be dark because of the sea turtle thing going on. So, you know, these places are dark, they're narrow, they're cramped and then you got all these pedestrians running around. Like, the liability of working here on Braon Beach is like considerably higher than other places. Like, there's no doubt that here, you know, the chances of you accidentally crashing into something or hurting a pedestrian, maybe your passenger or somebody else, are really freaking high. It doesn't really seem like the most conductive place to work just for liability reasons. Our next passengers are just a minute away. And again, here they are on the side of the road trying to chase down my car, you know, and there's no real safe place to park here. Like there they are. You can see they're moving towards me. Um, it's really dark. You can barely make them out, but they're they're chasing down the car. And notice how I went as far to the right as possible because they're running after the car to get in it. So again, like what makes you think you're going to hop into a car that's moving on the side of the road like that.

[00:36:57]>> You guys ready to roll?

[00:36:58]>> Sorry about the parking, man. I just want to make sure you guys are safe more than anything. I don't want you guys getting hurt.

[00:37:04]That's the main thing here with this parking arrangement, bro. So many tight places here. At night when people start leaving restaurants, the streets get busy again and the island kind of transforms into a whole new thing. It's really interesting. Now, these passengers were from Michigan. Um, and they're down here on vacation. Another young couple. Obviously, they didn't tip and, you know, I'm just trying to educate people on safety, but they don't seem to care and they definitely don't want to hear it. There are cops everywhere on these islands. It's a matter of time before you get pulled over and get a ticket. I've already had three warnings in three different places out here. So, I don't do it anymore, you know? And it's crazy that I don't know what do people think like the Uber driver, your phone is pinning to a app that that's in front of me. So, like I can see where you're at when I'm pulling up. Like I know if there's 100 people and within 10 seconds I know which one's my passenger. So, it's not like your driver doesn't know where you're at or isn't going to be able to find you.

[00:38:01]Like, chill, relax, dude. Your driver knows it's you by looking at you. So, we dropped them off and the following scenario just couldn't be worse. There's a roundabout here. Now, if you guys know, roundabouts are continual traffic.

[00:38:13]You cannot stop on the roundabout because if you stop on the roundabout, you're literally stopping traffic for all four directions. And I'm not planning on stopping at the roundabout.

[00:38:24]Now, there's people all the way around me. I'm not really sure who my passengers are or not, but some of these people swarming around us might be the passengers. I'm not sure which ones they were, but I stopped here because there was cars in front of me and those cars in front of me. Um, you know, but now they started yanking on the doors and they all started forcing themselves in the car. I was not trying to stop at the roundabout. Simply I stopped because in the car in front of me was stopped. But like when I stopped, they instantly started yanking on the doors and getting in the car from all directions. And you know, this is kind of like a really repetitive thing on the island. And like I said, if law enforcement sees you, the driver gets a ticket. And in this particular case, I really looked like an idiot blocking a freaking roundabout to pick people up on the road. And it wasn't my intention. Like I stopped because the car in front of me was there. And next thing I knew, these people were yanking on the doors trying to get in. And it's really freaking frustrating. Like times like this, you know, they put you in a spot that you don't want to be in. And if a cop sees that from far away, they're going to give you a ticket because you're blocking the roundabout to pick up people. It's an ignorant thing to do.

[00:39:34]And if you look carefully at the video, you'll see that I wasn't trying to stop.

[00:39:37]It was not my intention to stop. I was going to pull into the parking lot to the right, but they swarm my vehicle and next thing I knew, they were getting in the vehicle and um I thought the doors were locked, but one door I somehow the door was open. They got in. I'm like, it was really frustrating. And this is like so repetitive that it literally starts to grind my gears driving late at night.

[00:39:58]Um, and it just t it really just takes away the joy of driving because for me safety is everything and I'm not going to risk any points on my license for anybody. But people are putting you on the spot with this situation like back to back to back. There's plenty of places where you can stop where it's safe. You know, I you pull off to the side a little bit. You try to do the best you can not to be the idiot blocking a whole roundabout, but like they don't really let you. Now, these passengers were also upset that I hit this roundabout and hit the next roundabout up ahead. Again, the reason you hit both roundabouts is because, you know, if you take one of the streets that doesn't have a roundabout, you have to stop and there's cars coming in both directions and there's pedestrians on the sidewalk and it's pretty dangerous.

[00:40:42]So, I always used the roundabouts again to ensure safety, but then that irritated them as well. like, "Why are you hitting all these roundabouts?" I'm like, "Bro, I'm doing it for my safety.

[00:40:51]Look, the cops are right there. They can see you, bro." But it's for my safety.

[00:40:55]It's for your safety. And actually, it's very time consuming because once you get on those streets, if there's cross traffic and pedestrians, you could be stuck for 3 to four minutes, you know, trying to make a left or right turn at these uh dead end streets that end in on the golf road. So, like here, I'm making a left turn. I can just hit the roundabout and keep spinning. But if I had a stop sign, you could be there three to four minutes. You got to deal with all the pedestrians crossing, all the cars coming in both directions, and then there's people that pop out of you from nowhere. So, it really is the best option to hit the roundabouts, and that irritated them as well. So, it started to become really freaking irritating to drive here at night because practically 60 to 80% of people on this island are not sober. and you're still sober and you still got to make sure that you're not putting people in danger and that you're doing things safely with people who could give two craps about safety at the moment. Now, this group of people that I picked up was so obnoxious. They were New Yorkers from Long Long Island.

[00:41:57]They're all females. They were older.

[00:41:59]They were touchy. At some points, they were vulgar. It was just the most unpleasant experience I've had Uber driving in a while. Her life is an amusement park. So just say yes.

[00:42:11]>> Stephanie thinks you're on a ride >> cuz we keep going in circles.

[00:42:15]>> You got to do a roundabout.

[00:42:16]>> The thing is I went to do a roundabout bus because if you get on the streets there's too much traffic. You'll never get out.

[00:42:20]>> You know what you're doing, Jose? For many years I was >> Yeah.

[00:42:25]>> In New York.

[00:42:26]>> In New York City. Yeah.

[00:42:27]>> New York. I'm proud to be a New Yorker.

[00:42:31]>> And my students used to make butter.

[00:42:33]>> I just had >> and I don't mean the drink. He was really cute.

[00:42:38]>> A bagel. Actually, you know what? I had one this week for the first time in like a year.

[00:42:43]>> I had one at the airport this morning.

[00:42:44]>> Do you know I did not? Because I don't want to eat bagels.

[00:42:48]>> Jose, >> I hated when I was on my period.

[00:42:53]>> I used to get I used to get I don't like to say that word, but I couldn't say >> period. I don't like to say the word moist.

[00:43:01]>> Moist. Yeah. It's not a good word.

[00:43:03]>> Moist. I had a friend that never liked the word, but like moist panties.

[00:43:10]>> No, when you use the word moist panties together, that's disgusting.

[00:43:12]>> Okay, this group of people was so obnoxious. I was glad to get rid of them. Notice how many people are fishing on the bridge. I thought that was kind of interesting.

[00:43:23]It's like a lot of people fishing.

[00:43:25]What's up with that? Is there a fishing tournament or something? Obviously, the conversation that they were having was not appropriate for them to be having with me, but they're drunk. What the crap are you going to do? The last passengers of the night were going to the St. Regis.

[00:43:39]A stay here can cost as much as $6,000 a night. On average, it's at least $1,100 a night. It was a young couple that was coming here to celebrate their anniversary. And just take a look at some of the cars that are parked out front of this building. I mean, there's that Volkswagen van thing that Katie wants me to buy her. a Ford Bronco, the newer one. The themm things are like 70 grand. You got the MercedesBenz G Wagon, but these are just the cheaper cars.

[00:44:10]Wait till we pull the turn here and you see the other cars that are on the other side. Like I said, this is absolutely one of the most expensive places in Sarasota and Braon. So, the cars that are lined up here are kind of crazy.

[00:44:22]It's definitely not an affordable spot.

[00:44:25]Take a look at the cars parked out front. Bentley's, Royes, Porsches. If it's expensive, it's parked here. Now, do you think they tipped me? So far, nothing. You wouldn't believe how many people I bring to the St. Regis that don't tip. I feel like if you're staying at a place this freaking expensive, there's no excuse for you not to tip your Uber driver. So, this was the last passenger of the night, and we did not make $100. Our goal was to make $100.

[00:44:57]And by like 11:30 at night, 11:00 at night, let's say, like you just can't get passengers anymore on these islands.

[00:45:05]It just dies off. A few years back, you could have been up here the whole night till the sun came up. But that's not the case anymore. We just don't have that many tourists and visitors.

[00:45:15]Basically, I had to drive all the way back to my house, which is like more than an hour long drive basically, and not a single passenger the whole way.

[00:45:25]When I finally got passengers, it was just kind of too late and I figured, you know what, just turn off the app and go home. Now, our gas bill for the night was under $20. So, basically, we netted a $16 an hour profit after we deducted our fuel expense.

[00:45:43]The first four hours of the day were up to $25 an hour. If I had quit then and gone home, it' have been way better. All right, guys. So, we haven't got a ride in over 30 minutes. Driving down the Lombo Key was a horrible idea because we were not able to get any passengers back over this way. So, now we're back in Branson Beach and it's been really slow here. There's still people out and doing stuff. We could get a ride, but it's not very likely. So, it was a mistake to go all the way down to Longboat Key. There are only rides going south.

[00:46:19]Now, the bars here look full and there are people here. We could get somebody eventually, but I've had a long day, bro. It's 10:20 at night and I haven't even eaten today.

[00:46:29]So, I'm going to drive through here. If we get a ride, we get it. And if we don't, we don't cuz I can't be out here all night. You know what I mean? Um there are people out and about and there will be rides but you know we really uh we got to call it a