Uber Driver on what it is like to drive during Coronavirus | Thomas Evans | Vance Crowe Podcast

About this episode

Vance calls Thomas Evans, an Uber/Lyft driver in University City (St. Louis) who drove him a few months earlier, to get a street-level view of the pandemic's early weeks. Thomas describes a collapsed ride-share economy — needing 80 hours to earn what used to take 30 — while still taking on the personal risk of driving essential riders (dialysis patients, grocery runs, cancer treatment appointments) because the money forces the choice. He's masking up and disinfecting the car after every ride, using the shutdown as motivation to pursue a broadcasting/interviewing side project instead. The conversation drifts into who to trust for information (he names Dr. Oz/Dr. Phil-tier sources and admits total uncertainty), the disproportionate diabetes/comorbidity risk he's heard applies to the Black community, and a shared University City frame of reference with Vance around Ferguson — both agree they want to avoid a repeat of "mob action" even as frustration builds. The episode ends abruptly: the call drops and doesn't reconnect, so Vance publishes it as-is.

“To be honest with you, man, I don't know man. Like, like who can you trust? You know what I mean? You got professionals like Dr. I and Dr. Phil man, and then you got a doctor down the street around the corner that could tell me one thing and this person can tell me another. I don't know who to believe.”

“You and I both, both being in, in University City have an interesting view on this because we were both around when Ferguson started lighting on fire... I want to avoid mob action at all costs.”

“It's crazy, right? Because you have people that they could potentially be spreading the disease. Then you have police officers that in order to stop them from protesting, have to potentially expose themselves to the disease themselves. You also have a first Amendment right, where people are allowed to gather. So it's like, do we really wanna destroy the Constitution?”

Key moments

• Thomas's ride-share income has cratered — 80 hours now for what 30 used to earn.
• He's still driving dialysis patients, cancer-treatment patients, and grocery runs despite exposure risk.
• Discussion of Easter under lockdown — his church (Oliver Missionary Baptist) moved entirely to a YouTube livestream with no pushback.
• Thomas names the "yin and yang" of gig work during a pandemic — helping people who can't get around vs. risking exposure at home.
• Vance shares his own risk-tolerance shift now that his wife is pregnant.
• Discussion of reported racial disparities in coronavirus outcomes and diabetes as a comorbidity in the Black community.
• Thomas's "who can you trust" moment — flatly admits he doesn't know who to believe among competing medical voices.
• Shared Ferguson framing — both want to avoid mob action, though Thomas doesn't think coronavirus anger has reached that boiling point.
• Thomas is "the first person" Vance has heard question whether the 2020 presidential election will even happen on schedule.

Notable quotes

“To be honest with you, man, I don't know man. Like, like who can you trust?... I'm at the point where I need to really just find this information out on my own.”

“What I used to make in 30 hours, then I would have to work almost 80 hours now.”

“Do we really wanna destroy the Constitution?”

“I don't want Corona to justify every death that's going on in America right now.”