i'm officially done with waymo's

In the past 24 hours, I’ve been greeted with “Salaamun Alaykum” (peace be upon you in Arabic, a greeting Muslims use) in three out of four Uber rides I took.

It’s either a strange coincidence that every driver I get happens to be Muslim like me, or it’s a sign.

Maybe self-driving cars aren’t as cool as I thought after all.

“Muhammad, Kayf al-halukah?” (how are you?) he asked, as I stepped into the car. “Alhamdulillah (praise be to God), how about you?” I replied after a quick glance at the Uber app, confirming to me that my driver was named Amin and therefore likely Muslim.

Alhamdulillah, he replied. “Are you Pakistani?”

“Indian,” I replied.

“I’m from Palestine,” he said, “from Gaza.”

The next twelve minutes as we rode to the Salesforce Transit Center we’re filled with one of the most interesting conversations I’ve had.

"They destroyed us," Amin said, explaining to me the situation currently taking place in his country. "They killed men. they killed women. they killed children. they want to wipe us out. And this country is funding it.”

“But you know what we say? Victory will be ours. Victory will be ours, Inshallah (God willing).”

He then proceeded to explain to me how living in the East Bay and driving daily from 8am - 10pm in San Francisco was the only way he could pay his bills.

From owning a burger joint to co-owning a liquor store with his brother but refusing to sell any alcohol in it due to religious prohibitions, he described to me his story after moving to the US as a teen.

He even told me the name of the owner of one of the best Halal restaurants in San Francisco, assuring me that the owner, once hearing the name of the driver, would “take care of me” with discounts.

As I stepped out of the car and parted ways with him saying “God bless you,” I had a sudden realization.

I could have never had such an experience riding in a self-driving car.

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I was riding in Waymo’s before they were even open to the public.

As soon as I heard there was a waitlist, I jumped on it, and even created an Instagram reel (linked above) to show how cool I thought it was.

My family and friends freaked out. “You rely on AI way too much,” a friend said jokingly. He was half-serious.

Over the past few months, I’ve had the chance to ride in many Waymo’s, and the experience has been exactly the same. How could it be any different?

The temperature is exactly the same. The seats feel the same. The smell is the same. The rider is… well, the same. A computer.

And that’s not necessarily bad. It’s stable. It’s comfortable.

As humans, one of the things we fear the most is instability.

Not knowing how an experience will go.

We’re on the highway about 10 minutes away from our destination. Everyone is joking around, having a good time.

Crash!

We’re flung forward as the car comes to a sudden stop, and we hear a crushing sound.

Thankfully, we’re all wearing seatbelts, and the car wasn’t going too fast due to traffic.

Our Uber driver quickly pulls over to the side of the highway, as the car makes a strange buzzing sound.

In front of him, the Tesla he crashed into also pulls over.

My co-workers and I stay in the car, in shock. We’ve been in this Uber for the past hour and a half, going from our company’s headquarters in San Francisco, to the Google Headquarters for the 15 year anniversary of Google Ventures.

The last thing we expected was a car accident in the middle of the highway.

Then we start smelling smoke. We quickly jump out of the car, and with the doors on the right side blocked by the highway barrier, we step directly into the highway traffic.

The car’s oil is leaking, and the engine is smoking.

What can we do? We’re on the highway. No Uber would pull over to pick us up.

Our original Uber driver is desperately trying to find his insurance details to give to the Tesla owner, who’s car is now dented on the back.

This was an experience that convinced me self-driving cars were a life-saver, and that they were the future.

Thankfully, my faith in humanity was restored when the Tesla owner we crashed into graciously offered to drive us to our destination.

As he was about to leave, he paused and stepped out of his car. “I need to check on the Uber driver,” he said. “I need to make sure he’s okay.”

As I sit on the bus riding home writing this, I realize that I only have one story about a time I rode with Waymo.

I nearly lost my phone after I stepped out of the car and the doors automatically locked. My friend Zack,who was also in the car, and I stood in front of the Waymo for ten whole minutes as we blocked it from moving, desperately trying to contact support.

Finally, the woman who was going to ride in it next, traced the car down wondering why it was stuck, and opened the doors. If the rider was a human, I could’ve just knocked on the window.

The stories with human drivers however, are endless.

I’ve ridden in a car that smelled so strongly of saffron, my clothes stank of it for days after.

I’ve had people tell me their entire life stories, explaining everything from growing up in “the hood” to how much they had to pay after getting divorced (and how they got out of paying).

This week I rode with a man who recently moved from Nigeria, and explained to me how the other day he looked in the mirror and was shocked to realize his head had hair on it. He normally always shaves it, he said, but he’d been driving so much that he completely forgot to for the past few weeks.

These experiences may be strange. Some may even be uncomfortable.

But they’re what build character.

These are the stories that I’ll remember for years, stories that I can tell years from now.

A self-driving car may be breathtaking the first time you ride in it, and maybe even the second time.

But once you get used to it, the illusion breaks.

Your driver is a computer.

It has no feelings. No stories. No experiences. No family, friends, or community.

To be in a car like that, if you ask me, is pretty lonely.

But I’m curious, what do you think? Do you have any crazy Uber stories? 👀