[Uber] Improve pickup location accuracy in complex multi-level areas

Let me tell you what you have done. My father is 78 years old. If his life was a flight from AUS to SEA, he would be at the place where the flight attendants have already come through and collected trash and the pilot is about to turn on the seatbelt sign for descent. His awareness of things around him aren’t keen and while he has fond memories of his youth, especially his family… he must be asked if he has his wallet and his cell phone every time he moves from one place to another. Since his retirement over a decade ago, he has spent his time restoring old photographs of his family. He has spent day after day researching each image and writing the details that he remembers about the persons in the photos, reconstructing the past and reminiscing about the people he loved that have long since passed. This last week, I traveled with him to Washington state. It was a well planned-out trip and we drove about 150 miles a day, learning about this place that he and I have never been to and enjoying the wonders that it yields. Before we started the trip, he called me and asked me to “please not be negative about an arrangement he had made before I fully heard him out.” He had somehow made contact with a fellow that was WAY far removed from his family line and made arrangements to meet with the person because he had a large case of photos that would fill in a lot of gaps in my dads “project.” He met with this person and was given a medium sized (but very heavy) case that was filled with what my dad considered to be a treasure. While it means nothing at all to anyone but my dad and the guy he met up with, it was priceless to my dad. He had me bring it in from the car each night of our trip to make sure nothing happened to it. Yesterday, we flew from SEA back home to AUS. I tweaked my back carrying my gear and his and was flustered as one is when fighting weekend travel crowds. We walked to the ridesharing lot and I struggled getting the Uber app to realize that I was in the pickup zone and NOT at the damned Budget car rental one floor over us. When I finally figured it out, I was flustered, sweaty and my back was killing me so it was the first time in a week that I didn’t ask “do you have your wallet? Do you have your phone?” and honestly, the “priceless” case of old photos was the last thing on my mind. So… you can guess what happened. We made it all the way to my house, where my dad’s car was parked. The Uber driver unloaded everything from his car (thanks for that, brother). I loaded my dad’s car and he was on his way home. Two hours later, I get a frantic phone call from dad, asking if I took his case with my things by accident. I hadn’t. He asked me to call the Uber driver to see if it was left in his car. This is, by the way, pretty easy to do. Through the app, they can put you in touch with the driver. I made contact, the driver explained that he went straight home after dropping me off and checked his car. It wasn’t there. I was in my recliner, taking a load off my back, but I knew that despite how whooped I was, what I had to do next. I jumped in my truck and took the 40 minute drive to the airport at 10:30 on a Saturday night. I parked in the long term parking lot and limped over to the ride sharing lot. There were surprisingly few people so it was easy to scan the area. No case to be seen. There was a young woman on a golf cart with a reflective vest. I flagged her down and asked her if anyone had found a black case. I explained to her that it means nothing in the world, but to two people, it means a lot and to one of them, it means absolutely everything. She drove off to check and see if it had been found in the ride sharing area and it had not. She explained that the ABIA lost and found was closed and would open at 7:00 AM this morning. She was very empathetic and so to you, ma’am, I want you to know how much I appreciate your empathy, your willingness to assist and the seriousness with which you took my situation. I wish you nothing but the best in your life and I hope your good will finds its way back to you 10x. Leaving the airport, now at 11:44 PM, I had to make the call. “Hey dad… I’m so very sorry. It’s not there. Given what I remember about the last place I saw it, that puts the odds of recovery at zero given that there were no identifiers whatsoever on the case. I’m so, so sorry dad.” As I drove home, I felt so bad for him. I imagined how one would even start the conversation with someone, explaining that you lost their case of irreplaceable photos. I honestly think the stress, the guilt and the shame would have taken some of the last time he has left away from him. I am certain that whatever time he has left, he would have spent feeling absolutely awful. Then… this morning, at 9:30 AM, I got a phone call from my mother. My dad had not slept all night, writhing in guilt and shame. She had driven him from Georgetown to ABIA at 6:30 AM so that he could check the terminal lost and found as soon as it opened at 7:00 AM. And… there it was! Someone, one of you, whether a traveler or someone that works at ABIA, had the wherewithal to take that small, black, nondescript case to the lost and found. I do not have the ability to convey the magnitude by which you have altered the last few years of an old man’s life. The person that you saved from intensely negative emotions and sense of worth in this world has spent 78 years being kind, loving and extraordinarily empathetic to others. He is the type of person that has spent his weekends picking up trash off of the side of the road so that it looked nicer for those passing by. Your simple act of taking that case to the lost and found had downstream repercussions that are so positive that it’s not even possible to explain it. Whoever you are, and for the rest of my fellow Austinites that would do the same thing, I want you to know that even the simplest of acts of good will have unimaginably powerful, positive repercussions. Thank you so very much for what you have done. You made a very decent, kind, thoughtful person who has not had a whole lot of rewards, cry from joy this morning. I really want you to know that. Thank you so much.