Template Conversation

There is a template for conversations in ride sharing. Everyone seems to know. The most common questions I get are:

1. Oh my god, how can you drive a stick in San Francisco?
2. How long have you been a driver?
3. Do you like driving?

There are times when these starter prompts lead to interesting things. There are other times when these are the only questions people can come up with and the rest is silence.

The more interesting question for me is, why do people in ride share situations feel the need to chat? Do you chat with the taxi driver normally? Truly the situation is kind of awkward. A rider taps the phone and a completely random person arrives in their car to take them for a ride. 

#awkwardnessofthefirstworld

The question of tips

Tipping is among the most American of social expectations. The fact that it is necessary is a commentary on capitalism itself. I am not going to debate the constructs of society that have allowed for a subset of jobs which pay for services is not included in the base price. Further I will not comment on the idea that owners escape the need to pay a living wage by creating jobs which depend on the tips for economic viability.

Instead, I want to simply dispel a long held rumor. The price you pay in ride sharing apps does not include a tip. The price, is the fare for the ride and the fare alone. NYE is here and undoubtedly, many of you will find yourself in a ride share of one sort or another so, I put this out there. It is a simple question and paradigm which, in my opinion, should influence and dictate your actions. When you take a ride ask yourself, "If I were in a taxi would I have given this driver a tip?" If the answer is yes, then please give your driver a dollar or two. The gesture will be well received and, at least the way I look at it, follow the convention of how we have set up our society.

Cheers and have a happy and safe new year. May the best of your past, be the worst of your future.

PS Please leave me comments, I want to hear them! Also, I have added a gadget to let those interested follow the blog. Thanks for reading!

Make room for my Charlie

In the rain, I picked up a nice middle aged couple in Russian Hill. They were nice, and I would say, very San Francisco. Upon entering they told me they needed to make a quick stop to pick up Charlie. I assumed this to be their child.

They gave me the address and we arrived at a place called Foggy Doggy. The man hopped out and soon came back with Charlie in tow. I was quite surprised to see that Charlie was a 75 lbs. black lab. They got back in with the dog on the seats and said, "You're ok with dogs right? He's so nice." I was in driving mode and just went with it. They gave no tips and gave a cordial goodbye when I dropped them, with Charlie, at their posh Broadway apartment complex.

This was not OK with me. You bring your dog in my car, without warning and without asking, on a rainy day? Sure, the dog was being picked-up from a place where he was probably treated better, and with more care than most people in this world. But c'mon people! I realize in this position I am 'the help'. But you'd think people would have more sense or perhaps curtesy. At least if you are going to do this you could tip. Yes, Uber and Lyft drivers deserve tips just like you would in a taxi.

What's your score...in snapchat?

I got a pickup out in Noe Valley. As I got closer to the spot I realized I was being sent to an elementary school out there. My riders were not teachers; they were two little girls. If I had to guess, I'd put their ages at about 12. The fact that these girls had smart phones at their age, is another post all together.

I felt strange, like I was doing something shady driving these young ones without any parental guidance. (it turns out this is actually against policy to pick up people under the age of 18). I usually start conversations with my riders but in this case I felt very much out of my depth. So, in lew of taking part of the conversation, I became the fly on the wall

These girls were talkers. As someone in their 30's with no children of my own, the presence of non-adults is a novelty to me. These two were clearly friends. The dynamic between them was somewhat combative though. The conversation was a big pissing contest between two tweens. They were talking about nothing but Snapchat. This persons' Snapchat, that persons' Snapchat. This snap, that snap.

The success of Snapchat and its popularity have always been a mystery to me. I really just don't get it. I mean, how can a dick pick app be so popular? And now, why is a dick pick app the center of these little girls lives? Isn't that just wrong?

Listening to these two talk was incredibly interesting to me. The dynamic of competition between them. It was very female, tween, biting, oneupmanship. They were in competition with each other but doing so with politeness. The things that came up, which was truly interesting to me, was the Snapchat score.

I was never aware there was such a things as a Snapchat score, but for these girls the score was so very important.

The conversation went something like this:

Girl 1: "OMG, did you see John's new snap? It was so crazy?"

Girl 2: "We aren't friends anymore. I think he started a new Snapchat because his parents made him take down the old one."

Girl 1: "Yeah maybe, his score is really low now. My score is 3000. What's yours?"

Girl 2: "Oh, that's good, my score is 5000."

Girl 1: "Yeah, I had to close my old account but my old score was like 7000. But I've only had this one for like 2 weeks so, I'm sure I will be back at 5000 soon.

They went on like this the whole ride, comparing snaps, snap scores, critiquing classmates and boys' snaps and scores. After about 10 mintes of listening to this I finally had to ask, "How to you get points for your snapchat score?"

"Well, like, you just snap," Girl 1 said. She answered with the tone that mrans I am an old out of touch idiot not worth trying to explain this all important status marker to any further. She then went back to her friend.

Thanks, that clears everything up for me.