My Uber driver was on insta watching reels the entire hour+ drive, and then missed the exit at rush hour and added 20 minutes to the trip. AITA if I rate him down for it? I get bored too, but like, damn.
I’m so Midwest that shit like this happens and I have an existential crisis about whether to tip 18 or 20 percent, and then I say “sorry” about something.
I definitely need to explain this better to people who aren’t American, because it’s reading like a callous joke - and it’s really completely honest and serious dark humor. Let me explain what happens when I rate a person down for unsafe rideshare driving in America:
They’re probably immediately banned from driving for the service, and they’re not paid for the (lengthy in my case) ride or tip, so no money that evening, and they now need to find a new job. In this economy.
Most people in America live paycheck to paycheck. Now no money is coming for them or their family that day. They have no safety net of savings.
Most rideshare drivers don’t have the most basic protections as employees they general American workers do. They may not qualify for unemployment quickly or at all. Either way they aren’t getting any food, shelter, or money immediately. They own or lease expensive cars, too.
If you don’t get food or rent assistance through those convoluted and hard to qualify for assistance programs, you’re pretty much dependent on charities with resources that week that do or do not deem you and your family godly enough to help. Unhoused people are all over in most US cities because there just are not enough resources or eligibility.
That’s the math empathetic Americans do every time we choose how to rate or tip service workers. Especially gig workers at unscrupulous companies. It’s legitimately- “ha ha… I could die, but this driver has little kids who need to eat and I don’t… ha… ha…”
I hope that explains.
In this case I did because it was honestly so so dangerous, but I’ll feel guilty for months because I know the driver had little kids and I may have fort them a meal.
@hacks4pancakes As many, MANY others have pointed out: It's not just about this driver and his family, it's also about the safety of all the other people he shares a road with and their families. Yes, it sucks that something as trivial as a rideshare review can have such a devastating impact on an individual, and that whole economic aspect is fully dystopian.
But bruh. Insta reels while driving. What the fuck.
@Legit_Spaghetti yeah, that’s why I commented on it. It was totally insane, and because of our corporate dystopia I still have to feel awful for a long time for reporting it.
@hacks4pancakes I think you did the right thing to report it, because it was putting lots of peoples' lives at significant risk, but your reservations about doing so are also valid (and thoughtful).
I was thinking about what proactive steps one could take to avoid this sort of conundrum; I guess maybe trying to avoid ride sharing services would be one, but that's probably easier said than done. Old-style taxis weren't great, but it seems like they were less bad than the ride sharing situation; they seem to still exist in my area, but I'm not sure if that's true everywhere.
