To make a little extra money, and to kill time, I occasionally drive for Uber and Lyft. I’ve been doing this for a couple years and I’ve found it to be profitable and interesting, most of the time.

Last night I decided to head out to see if I could grab some folks headed to dinner or bars or whatever. I figured I’d drive from 5 or so until 8 and then call it a night (I prefer not to drive too late on the weekends so I can avoid getting the drunk people leaving the bars).

I picked up a couple quick rides, as usual they were just folks leaving work and they were content to simply ride and focus on their phone. Most people leaving work aren’t interested in conversation or much else, they just want to go home.

In the middle of my time I grabbed a call from a suburb, which, on a Saturday night, is usually someone (or a couple) headed somewhere for dinner and/or a night out.

When I picked up these folks, it was exactly that. A young couple with a few young kids headed out for the night.

These are my favorite passengers as they tend to be in a very good mood, they are usually sober, and they are (for whatever reason) very chatty.

These folks were no exception and we had a very nice conversation all the way to their destination. We covered a bunch of topics and had a really nice conversation. It was definitely the highlight of my night, and it was fun to safely deliver them to the start of their night out.

I’ve driven hundreds of people, and most of them have been perfectly fine. Most are content to stare at their phones, some are chatty, and a precious few will talk my ear off. Some are more memorable than others, and the conversations can range from interesting to annoying.

But my ideal avatar is definitely people headed out for the evening. I’ve never had a bad trip with that niche, and they tend to be the most interesting to talk to, in addition to being in a very good mood.

I treat Uber like a business, and I try my best to make the most money (and profit) in the least amount of time, but there are times like last night when I pick up my ideal avatar when it’s as good for my soul as it is for my wallet.