Podunk on the Loose in Urbania

I’m spending a week in Seattle, a highly urban city. Growing up in rural Idaho, my only experience with public transportation involved the yellow school bus — the full sized one — so when I get in more populated areas I tend to spend a lot of spare change on riding the light rail around like it’s a ride at Disneyland. Seattle’s light rail couldn’t quite get me to the front door of my hotel, so the hotel staff recommended I take a lift from the train station. “No duh,” I thanked the helpful staff member Justin.

“It’s an app for your smartphone, Podunk. LYFT. It’s pretty cool,” he countered.

I put my trusty LG to work. I pressed a button that said “Request LYFT,” and within about 5 minutes, Steve showed up in his super clean SUV. I did not even have to tell Steve where I was. He just automagically knew. Creepy.

So this is not a picture of Steve, but this is the kind of information that appears on your phone, all because you downloaded an app. This is like a cross between Facebook and carjacking. I am a little bit hooked on this feeling.