Day: June 21, 2017

I don’t want to tip my Uber drivers

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

I hate tipping.  Tipping sucks.  I still do it when it’s expected (required). 

C’mon, I’m not Scottie Pippen.

Generously, too, because I like to think I’m a decent human being, and I also understand that those working in industries that expect tips are often ones where the laborers themselves are grossly underpaid and that it’s the unfortunate responsibility of patrons like me, to make sure they can make their ends meet.

But still, I hate tipping.  It’s a practice that reeks of labor abuse, and that companies that allege to care about their customers, put the burden of paying their workers onto them.

What I liked about Uber, aside from the obvious reasons that it’s not a dirty, rickety cab driven by an asshole that smells like one too and they show up relatively quickly and have (usually) better cars is that I don’t have to tip.  I know my cost up front, it is taken out of my PayPal account, and I get from point A to point B with full transparency on cost, who’s taking me in what type of vehicle, and a fairly accurate estimate of time it is going to take.  And at the end of the ride, I don’t have to tip anyone, don’t feel obligated to tip anyone, and the drivers (I hope) aren’t expecting any tips.

That is, until soon, since Uber is apparently rolling out tip capabilities across the board.  Initially, they’re claiming it’s to keep up with their rivals Lyft, but really for both companies and all other rideshare clones, the integration of tipping is something that is closing the gap between rideshare and taxi, but in the wrong direction.

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A political blurb

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Yeah, I know, nobody really likes to talk about politics, and frankly I don’t really either.  But thanks to the world around me, I’ve become more aware of politics, even if I can’t necessarily believe that the decisions of people so high will ever affect me at my ground level, but it matters to a lot of people in my little world, so I acknowledge a lot more than I’d really want to admit to.

Anyway, a big deal is being made about the recent Georgia 6th Congressional District race; and how it ended in a manner very disagreeable to the vast majority of my friends as well as the Democratic liberal people primarily of my general era of likeminded peoples.  Basically, in spite of all the social media activism, lobbying and celebrity involvement, a Republican defeated a Democrat, and nothing at all seems to have changed.

In short, a woman who has gone on record and went viral for saying she does not support a living wage won an election for a Congressional seat.  The majority of American people also voted for a man with no military or political experience who has said similarly deplorable things and has a laundry list of sexual deviancy allegations as President of the United States.

If elections were decided by the internet and on social media, Democrats would probably steamroll every single one.  Liberals love to talk a big game, and post and share and retweet all the virtues of their preferred candidates and just how bad the Republican candidate is, with all applicable factoids.  But when it comes time to deliver, quiet conservatives are still the ones with the tenacity and drive to get out of their houses, get on the roads, and pack the voting stations and cast their votes, and the proof is in the results, whether they are liked or not.

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