Welcome To KW, Uber

Last Updated on: 23rd July 2015, 02:29 pm

Unless something suddenly changes in the next few minutes, at 2 this afternoon Kitchener, Waterloo, Guelph, Hamilton and London will officially have Uber.

Predictably because this seems to happen everywhere it goes, its arrival has local taxi people and some politicians all upset. I get that part of the issue is safety and that is important, but let’s not kid ourselves here. Part of the problem is that the cab companies are worried they won’t be able to compete on price because of all the regulations and the government types are wondering how they’re going to get themselves a piece of the action.

On the subject of safety, If you’re being honest, you can’t tell me that taxis are always safe places. Have you seen the way some of those people drive? By and large I’ve had no problems, but more than once I’ve wondered if maybe I shouldn’t have put off getting my affairs in order.

Another reason I’ve had few problems is because I’m a man. Those cameras they’re putting in cabs now, they aren’t there simply to protect the drivers. If they were, why has it been mandated that every driver in the region has to take a training course that teaches them, essentially, that raping women is not a recommended on the job activity? All the licensing standards in the world haven’t stopped the repeated incidents around here from happening, so how is Uber that much worse?

As for another issue that’s near and dear to my heart and especially Carin’s seeing as she’s got a guide dog, how many stories have you heard about cab drivers refusing to pick up people and their service dogs? Perhaps we’ll come to find out that Uber is orders of magnitude worse, but for now I’m willing to take my chances and see if the savings are worth it.

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6 Comments

  1. I’ve been wanting to write a post about Uber for a long time, but what I would have written would have been long, complicated and likely more whiny than what you just wrote. And that “don’t rape women course”…oy…also wanted to write about that too. I’ll admit I’m probably going to be a little scared the first time I try out Uber, but hopefully those fears won’t be confirmed. Thankfully I haven’t had any bad experience in the unwanted contact department in conventional cabs…worst thing I’ve had done is when that cabby locked me in the car and tried to convince me I needed healing…but that had everything to do with the blindness and I hope nothing to do with the femaleness. Granted, in the moment, I had no idea what was going to happen, and I was scared out of my freaking mind. Now, since the “don’t rape people” course, I’ve seen more awkward cab drivers…drivers who are afraid to help me carry something, or so much as move, for fear I might get the wrong idea, or that one cabby who said, “I saw my phone drop near your leg, but I figured if I reached for it, you’d scream…” Oh my. I get why, but oh my. Wish we could strike a balance, you know?

    1. What the heck would you have written that would have been whiny? Whatever it is, feel free to write it anyway.

      And I’ll tell you what. If you want, I’ll go with you when you try Uber out.

      1. I dunno…even when I have something worth saying, sometimes when I look at my old posts I write, they have such a tone of…of…I don’t know…over the top waaa. Yeah I’m not taking my first Uber alone. No way, no how.

        1. Maybe I need to go read more of your old posts, because I haven’t noticed that. Any specific ones you have in mind? And don’t feel bad. Some of my older stuff isn’t any damn good either. And this is where some smartass can chime in with “neither is your new stuff.”

  2. Also, Uber can suck it for their poor behaviour back when that hostage situation in Australia happened, when people wanted to leave the area, and Uber jacked up their prices. Don’t pull that shit again, got it?

    1. Yeah, that never should have happened. But I’ve got no doubt that had the conventional cabs been using a similar pricing structure one of them would have tried it. Uber is hardly the only corporation that’s ever exploited tragic situations for personal gain. If it was, all that coloured shit for disease awareness wouldn’t exist.

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