Hacker News Reader

Comment by joelrunyon | Hacker News Reader

I always wish we as riders could set a "preset" for what we'd like in a ride.

Most times I take a lyft/uber I have something else to do in the car ride + rarely want to talk to the driver. Maybe that's rude, but if I take a taxi or a bus, I just want to get somewhere, not have a conversation.

With the advent of "tips" and "compliments" - I've noticed how much more drivers talk to you just because they think it will help with tips, when really - I'll tip them more if they get me there faster w/ less hassle.

Maybe this makes me a bit cold, but I feel like it could be a trivial thing to fix considering each rider has their own preferences. Seems like you could set a default on your profile "I like chats", "just business" etc - and let your driver know ahead of time and avoid the "I don't really want to talk right now" type of chats that have no way to not come out rude.

View on HN

If I need to work or nap or just think quietly, I just tell the driver upfront. Never had anyone take offense or bother me after that. Not sure why that needs to be automated.

People tend to talk out of social anxiety or the perceived need to entertain a passenger who looks bored. I do not think the majority of drivers talk as a mercenary plot to try to get a bigger tip - simple human sociability seems just as likely an explanation.

Also, Lyft’s “thing” from the very start was to be a more friendly ride, with drivers encouraged to offer bottled water/snack/phone charger and chat.

> People tend to talk out of social anxiety or the perceived need to entertain a passenger who looks bored. I do not think the majority of drivers talk as a mercenary plot to try to get a bigger tip - simple human sociability seems just as likely an explanation.

Driving in circles for hours on end is not the most intellectually-stimulating occupation around. I entertained myself by talking to my passengers. Some of the things I learned turned into diaries that I originally posted at kuro5hin.org (RIP - reposted at http://www.taxiwars.org/ ).

Usually people were happy to talk back. Every so often people weren't interested in chatting, so I didn't talk to everyone.

I agree that just saying you want to work is totally acceptable and I've never had an issue, but I think it's naive to think driver's don't strike up a conversation, at least part of the time, as a way to build camaraderie and generate tips. This is a ubiquitous technique in the service industry and there's nothing wrong with it.

If Uber driver conversations were mostly tip-motivated then you would have seen an increase in the frequency of them when Uber introduced tipping a few months ago. I haven't observed that. Something like 80-95% of my drivers have started conversations.

It’s not just tips. It’s the 5 star rating.

In Australia we generally jump in the front seats of cabs if travelling alone. Its a loose social rule, considered polite as you have a chat and its treating them more like an equal than servant.

If for work/other reasons I dont want talk I jump in the back seats and they leave you alone.

Left unsaid is that guys are expected to ride in front, women in back. Guys less likely to cause violence in front, women less likely to receive/accuse anything untoward in back. Sitting next to someone is more conducive to having a chat.

I've also observed this general expectation, but what do you mean "cause violence"? Do you mean it's less likely for the cab driver to get mugged if a guy rides in front or something similar?

Eh, it's not just mugged, although I suppose that's part of it. More just punching/stabbing attempts, they're either high, drunk, or mad about the fare etc.

In the front you're not going to get blindsided.

I was about to suggest the same thing, I've started doing that in Australia too. I tend to spring for Uber Black on those occasions though, the limo drivers seem more receptive to that, and more experienced. Hopefully the extra cost helps compensate for me being slightly less social / entertaining.

I would like that profile feature though (sounds like Virgin America's avatar system in the seat allocation, where you could show yourself as happy & chatty or a grumpy business man). And I'm sad that the Uber - Spotify integration never took off, my friends were really excited about being able to have our own playlists queued up when our Uber arrived on the way to the nightclub.

At some point in the early days of Lyft, the way to signal this was by getting in the front seat for a friendly conversation or the back seat for a boring but efficient taxi-like experience. I've done that recently, but I'm not sure - is that still a meaningful norm, or did that disappear along with the giant pink mustaches?

this is a great idea! I would love to specify no music, and a preference for no cologne or heavy air fresheners.

I feel this the most when I'm coming home from the airport. I just spent 24 hours on a plane. The last thing I want to do is make small talk with a cab driver, but I'd feel rude not-doing it.

Honestly, I feel the opposite. After spending 24 hours sitting and disconnected from the ground world, I love to have empty chat with some local to know how things are going around there.

Wear a headphone and when you get in just let them know you are on a call.

get in, say hello, confirm destination, say thanks, headphones in, eyes down. Everytime

Reply on news.ycombinator.com