MORE Conversations From the Professional Front Lines

[Terralthra]

Rideshare companies like Lyft and Uber cover you with their insurance policy while you're carrying passengers, and only then. They only cover you from the moment a ride is accepted until the moment the passenger gets out. This means that while you're driving around waiting for a ride request, you're not covered by their insurance. More than one private insurance company has said that even though you aren't currently carrying passengers, the act of having the Lyft or Uber driver app open and being available to accept rides means you are performing "commercial driving" and their insurance does not apply to any liability (and can be cancelled as a violation of contract). This has left Lyft/Uber drivers who plowed into pedestrians or caused accidents while paying attention to their smartphone on the hook.

Some insurance companies are now offering "rideshare insurance" to cover those drivers, but it's...not cheap.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

Statefarm has excellent coverage for rideshare drivers for either no or only a small extra charge. Some companies are still hostile to it, though, as above posts mention.

I've got a friend considering working with Lyft. I'm not sure how exactly to tell her it might not be the awesomest idea.

EDIT: For background detail, she's currently an assistant manager or something like that at a chain pizza place. She's having workplace conflicts and seeking a transfer to another store. The Lyft thing is plan B for her. She already does a lot of delivery, so she's familiar with taking care of wear and tear on her car. She says she likes that she'd be semi-self-employed and able to set her own hours and all that...

What city? Here in SF people make a pretty decent living doing Lyft / Uber (provided they don't hate it and therefore find excuses not to do it like I did). Definitely a step up from the food service industry. Other cities with fewer fares and longer distances can come out to around minimum wage after you account for all expenses, though.

If she likes dogs you should tell her about the Wag! walking app and Rover.com. That's what I'm currently doing for cash.

[Napoleon the Clown]

I've got a friend considering working with Lyft. I'm not sure how exactly to tell her it might not be the awesomest idea.

EDIT: For background detail, she's currently an assistant manager or something like that at a chain pizza place. She's having workplace conflicts and seeking a transfer to another store. The Lyft thing is plan B for her. She already does a lot of delivery, so she's familiar with taking care of wear and tear on her car. She says she likes that she'd be semi-self-employed and able to set her own hours and all that...

Just have her do the math on it, that should dissuade her right quick. Pizza places usually comp you for distance driven on top of an hourly wage and tips. Lyft, I suspect, does not. Just whatever percent of a share. I've seen things indicating that Uber and Lyft tend to result in you being paid under minimum wage once you account for commercial car insurance, gas, oil changes, etc.

Also remind her that cleaning up vomit will become a major part of her job description. And I doubt Lyft will comp her for that in any way. Ask Shark how fun it is to clean up a backseat full of vomit.

Do you have to have commercial insurance or can you just use your own car insurance? I wonder.

I suspect that if she did it as a full-time job it'd mainly be a daytime thing. We're both in the Atlanta area so I would expect a lot of to-and-fro involving the airport, office buildings and hotels. Of course, the peak hours are probably evening and nights, to and from bars and restaurants and clubs... so yeah, if she wants to make real money she would pretty much have to work those times, which I expect she's probably used to anyway (pizza and all).

She's not the most... logical person though. Came out against Obamacare because "I don't need health insurance, I always pay up front and I've been lucky so far". Yeah...

As mentioned, private car insurance will deny any claims you make while "on the clock" with Uber or Lyft and could well drop you if they find out you're doing either of those. If the insurance that covers commercial use were cheap, ride-sharing services would require you have them, or just have it as part of the service entirely.

Assistant manager is going to be a much more reliable paycheck for her, and dealing with assholes is sort of inevitable regardless of what you do. Also, vomit. Possibly instances of blood and feces, too. If she doesn't have leather seats she might want to invest in seat covers that are easy to clean. Because seriously, vomit and other bodily wastes.

[Raw Shark]

Yeah, the vinyl seats have done me some good over the years. I never take a car with cloth seats if I can help it. I've cleaned up vomit, urine, feces, and as much as about a quart of blood (that time the guy got his throat cut with a broken bottle in my back seat).

Personal note: The last time I had to clean up vomit, I was at the car wash about 50' from the spot where my sort-of girlfriend Sara had just been killed, and I looked at all the crime scene tape and emergency vehicles and the two mangled cars and thought to myself, "Oh shit, somebody's dead over there," as I was standing there hosing it out. I didn't find out it was her until the next day. My feelings about cleaning up vomit have since gone from disgust to dread.

[FireNexus]

Me: That "we can record you on mute" has never been true. We tell CSRsthat so they don't curse out customers.
Coworker: I hear CSRs curse out customers on mute all the time.
Me: There's an electrical contact inside the amp that's broken when you press the button. It physically cuts the mic part of the wire. You couldn't have heard that if they were muted.
Coworker: I did, man.
-------------
Sometimes a lie becomes so pervasive that people convince themselves they've encountered evidence of its truth.

This is why I don't trust eyewitnesses.

[LaCroix]

OR they did curse out the customers THINKING they pressed mute, and the switch was broken. Don't know if that is any better, though....

[Raw Shark]

There was at least one manager walking the floor at all of the phone jobs I've ever had. They might've just been standing near the cussing employee with their finger on a functional mute button.

[muse]

During a company board meeting

VP dude: ...and once these new products are rolled out we it will really donkey punch our competition

Me and everyone else under 40:


Other VP dude: Please strike that from the minutes, thank you sir.

[Broomstick]

Sad to say, I actually had to go to the urban dictionary for "donkey punch". My only excuse is that I am, indeed, over 40.

[FireNexus]

OR they did curse out the customers THINKING they pressed mute, and the switch was broken. Don't know if that is any better, though....

Doesn't make sense. If they cursed the customer out, the customer just flat out ignored it, in this context. The guy in question listens to recorded calls like I do (or did until very recently), so he was talking about that.

The scenario you specify is why they tell CSRs that, though. Because that one has definitely happened.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Sad to say, I actually had to go to the urban dictionary for "donkey punch". My only excuse is that I am, indeed, over 40.

That makes two of us. Now, I wish I hadn't done that.

[Raw Shark]

I was fortunate to not be drinking something. Just in at 38!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MAID OF HONOR: Tell us your craziest cab story!

YOUR DRIVER: Okay, my craziest cab story is the one where the guy got his throat cut with a broken bottle.

MAID OF HONOR: ...um. Fuck, seriously? Okay, tell us your craziest cab story that's about sex!

YOUR DRIVER: Uh. Do you want a happy one, specifically?

MAID OF HONOR: Yes! Happy stories only.

[Lord Revan]

I have no idea what that means (and I'm not sure even want to know) but then I'm not a native english speaker.

[Raw Shark]

I have no idea what that means (and I'm not sure even want to know) but then I'm not a native english speaker.

It was a bachelorette party. They wanted a story about eg: a marriage proposal that ended in physical relations, as opposed to eg: an attempted rape or a hooker who cries while she works. They were aiming for a certain realm of crazy.

[Lord Revan]

I have no idea what that means (and I'm not sure even want to know) but then I'm not a native english speaker.

It was a bachelorette party. They wanted a story about eg: a marriage proposal that ended in physical relations, as opposed to eg: an attempted rape or a hooker who cries while she works. They were aiming for a certain realm of crazy.

I meant the other thing people were talking about.

[Raw Shark]

I meant the other thing people were talking about.

Urban Dictionary covers the Donkey Punch adequately, if your curiosity overcomes you.

[GuppyShark]

Me: That "we can record you on mute" has never been true. We tell CSRsthat so they don't curse out customers.
Coworker: I hear CSRs curse out customers on mute all the time.
Me: There's an electrical contact inside the amp that's broken when you press the button. It physically cuts the mic part of the wire. You couldn't have heard that if they were muted.
Coworker: I did, man.
-------------
Sometimes a lie becomes so pervasive that people convince themselves they've encountered evidence of its truth.

This is why I don't trust eyewitnesses.

In a call center environment, it's possible for customers talking to other CSRs to hear a 'mute' CSR cussing a different customer out. I guess that's the why.

[Zaune]

Urban Dictionary covers the Donkey Punch adequately, if your curiosity overcomes you.

Huh. That's actually worse than what I thought it meant.

[Crazedwraith]

Lots of UD's sex terms I assume are actually made for a laugh. No one actually does stuff like that.

Right?

[Elheru Aran]

Lots of UD's sex terms I assume are actually made for a laugh. No one actually does stuff like that.

Right?

Well, there was a shitty movie that came out in the early/mid 00's called just that, involving the aforesaid action.

Spoiler: It doesn't end well.

Some OK nudity, though. At least until stuff hit the fan.

[Raw Shark]

Lots of UD's sex terms I assume are actually made for a laugh. No one actually does stuff like that.

Right?

I've never personally had a request for a sharp blow to the brain stem, but I did have a girl ask me to backhand her across the face as hard as I could during sex once. She asked me if I liked to get rough, I told her I do reasonable requests thinking she was going to ask me to pull her hair or something, and then the next thing I know she whips that out on me. We have proof, ladies and gentlemen: Raw Shark's wood can be killed.

[Borgholio]

Lots of UD's sex terms I assume are actually made for a laugh. No one actually does stuff like that.

Right?

I've never personally had a request for a sharp blow to the brain stem, but I did have a girl ask me to backhand her across the face as hard as I could during sex once. She asked me if I liked to get rough, I told her I do reasonable requests thinking she was going to ask me to pull her hair or something, and then the next thing I know she whips that out on me. We have proof, ladies and gentlemen: Raw Shark's wood can be killed.

One my Exes had a rather...realistic...rape fantasy. She didn't want just rough or with her hands pinned over her head. She wanted the full on slapping, throwing, pinning, forced dry entry routine. Yeah...I passed on that one.

[Esquire]

Lots of UD's sex terms I assume are actually made for a laugh. No one actually does stuff like that.

Right?

Corollary to Rule 34: Someone, somewhere is into it.

[Zeropoint]

I believe that's Rule 36: Everything is someone's fetish.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

I've found that a lot of women think they're into choking and other mild "rough stuff" until they find a guy who has some rhythm and knows what he is doing down there, then they don't need to be choked or slapped.