3 ways uber and lyft are crippling the success of their black, millennial drivers

now, don't get me wrong here. when i'm out of town or when i'm going out with friends in the city, it's not uncommon for us to call an uber or a lyft for us to get around. as a passenger, it's really convenient. i don't have to worry about parking costs, renting a car or having to walk for blocks and blocks because that's where the nearest free park was. however, i've noticed a surge in the amount of black, millennial drivers and i gotta say, i'm concerned. and don't get it twisted, it's not just the black millennials that are being affected; this is something adversely affecting black culture as a whole. however, i've chosen to specifically target black millennials mainly because that's my core target, ya know? while i'm all for us (black millennials) making money legally to accommodate the lifestyles we are accustomed to living, i think there's also something to be said about the underlying downsides to driving for lyft and uber that aren't typically discussed. i've actually considered becoming a driver myself at one point, but ultimately decided against it because in my mind, both uber and lyft:

3). establish complacency as the new norm. 

when i considered driving for uber and lyft, i was going to use the money i made from driving to supplement what i was already making from the job i worked during the day. as a matter of fact, that's why many people have chosen to become drivers; so they could use the extra money as a supplement to what they already make. however, there are way too many black millennials who've made driving for lyft and uber their primary source of income, which is problematic because it makes us complacent; we feel like we're making "good" or "easy" money, so there's no real motivation to go out and find something more closely aligned with our skillset, which makes sense. but then again, it doesn't. i can't tell you how many black millennials i know who actually have degrees (in some cases, two degrees); yet, they've made the decision to drive full-time. now don't get me wrong, i'm not "knocking" the profession by any means. but, why spend all this money on tuition for at least four years to get a degree only to do something you could've done without it in the first place? that's not efficiency. we (black millennials in particular, but i'm talking to everyone here, ha!) can't allow ourselves to get "stuck" in one area of our lives, forreal. complacency is a scary thing. it'll creep up on you and if you're not careful, you'll look up and realize that you spent x amount of time driving people to their destinations and never went anywhere yourself. 

2). promote immediate gratification over hard work and staying the course. 

if it's one thing about millennials, we are some of the most impatient people i've ever come across. i low key don't even like the term, "millennials" anymore because i feel like non-millennials have turned it into a derogatory term but i'll save that for another post in the future. what was i saying.. oh yes, lack of patience. basically, we're impatient. we want what we want and we want it the second the desire came to us. that's a dangerous characteristic because now it's just like.. if i need money to go out drinking with my friends or to cover the cost of an unexpected repair to my car, i'll just go and do a couple of rides to make some quick money. but my question is, does the "i need this, so i'll go do that" mentality help us in establishing good habits with our money? i'm gonna go ahead and say no. it becomes more difficult for us to develop good spending habits if we feel as though each time we run low we can just go and drive for lyft or uber and everything will be ok. but the kicker is that everything won't be ok if we don't get to the root of our inability to effectively hold on to a dollar, ya know? sure..instant gratification is nice for a season, but we have to remember that there aren't any shortcuts to anything that is truly worth having in life. 

1). create dependency on an inconsistent system.

with most jobs, whether it's part time or it's full time, you kinda know what you're going to get paid. whether it's at forever 21, where you know that you make $12/hr or if you're a lawyer and you know that you make $200/hr, there's a certain level of stability associated with being able to figure out what your take home will be for any given week or month. from what i've observed, the same isn't true for uber and lyft. there are good days where you could average over $35/hr and then there's not so good days where you averaged $10/hr, barely. and what happens when you thought you were about to get up and drive, but then these companies temporarily suspend your driving rights and privileges because you have to go and get your car serviced again, or you need to resubmit your insurance? it's an inconsistent system, ya'll. and we've grown increasingly dependent on it; just like link, just like medicare. i just want us all to be the best possible versions of ourselves. we won't be able to do that if we're too busy building a foundation on inconsistency.