Hacker News Reader

Comment by jawngee | Hacker News Reader

Didn't see that coming at all.

Honestly, I'm surprised we haven't seen this story earlier, or maybe stories about getting robbed, etc.

While I would love a society where trust is perhaps more freely given and received, we don't live in that kind of world.

A friend of mine was going to use AirBnB for an upcoming trip and I wondered out loud if your personal security was worth the savings.

I'd love to have faith in humanity, but current conditions don't necessarily warrant that at all.

View on HN

This is an incredibly weak argument, because the actual hard data is here for everyone to see, and you are completely disregarding it in favour of an unconfirmed anecdote.

The CS community is pretty big, and according to the stats page (http://www.couchsurfing.org/statistics.html), there have been over 1.3 million positive traveling experiences. Your argument seems to be projecting one negative anecdote against that entire dataset. Criminality rates in pretty much any city are far beyond 1/1.3M, so do you also feel we should restrain from all social contact?

If anything, i actually see CS in general as a perfect example that generalized fears of insecurity are typically misplaced, and that while it's useful to take precautions, you are only really punishing yourself by not being more open to all the different cultures and perspectives available for free at your doorstep.

Also if you're offering your place, you open yourself up to other risks and liabilities.

Does your renter's or homeowner's insurance cover rental activity?

Is letting someone sleep over for a night without charging them money considered "rental activity"?

I don't know about AirBnB, but couchsurfing is NOT about savings - or it shouldn't be. Most hosts I know won;t host you if they feel you're only there to save money. Instead, its about a cultural exchange, about meeting new people and making new friends.

Such things are only a matter of degree. If you're staying in a hotel you're just trusting a different set of people with access to where you're sleeping.

People that have generally proven over time to be reliable and have received the appropriate licenses for operating a hotel. It's more than just a matter of degree.

You're trusting people who are licensed, bonded and insured versus some schlep with space in his living room. The matter of degree here is gargantuan.

Oh, well, if they're licensed not to be a rapist then it's all good. ;-)

If this guy is innocent... rule of the wise; don't open your home to women you don't know. Gents you should already know this.

Yeah, you're right. We should also make dates illegal as date rape is quite common as well. Don't trust anybody. Just close your door and don't leave your home. Don't forget about security cameras, a loaded gun within reach etc. You never know! People are evil. ;-)

It's a big difference putting your trust in a licensed operator (read: Hotel) versus some stranger with an air mattress in their living room.

And nobody said a thing about making anything illegal. Straw man much?

Yeah, the difference is 100$+ a day. In other words it's whether you can afford it or not to travel. Most people can't afford travel until they get a real job which nowadays might be well in their thirties. On the other hand mostly young people travel around the world. So a site like this really makes the difference.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com