OP is such a damn troll, lmfao.
I would like this
I know this is a parody, but:
In the US, you might soon need a white “walking buddy” when they re-instate Jim Crow laws, because you wouldn’t be allowed to travel without a white man leading the group.
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Honestly in some areas of town late at night, I would totally make use of a service like this…
…but I’d also expect the service be abused by people seeking people to harass.
“I will be right there, I am just 3 white guys away from that place”
I have some friends who have the same problem all their love because they are women.
Why substitute the word “life” or “lives” with “love?”
Probably a typo. I and O, and F and V are pretty close on a phone keyboard.
Yes, it’s a typo. I use slide on Android, and sometimes I don’t double check, what came out ;)
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Just editing it, would still keep the question unanswered
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It’s called a typo.
Is the hand holding optional or?
Compulsory.
Your preference will be determined through biometrics and you will be billed on a scale determine by your Uber rating.
Why is the walking buddy holding hands? Are they letting you know Kevin is single and ready to mingle?
so that you can google map together?
i assume, if this were real, which it isn’t, the idea would be that everyone on the app has to pass a background check, so if you’re walking through an unfamiliar neighborhood and you’re a class of person who has reason to fear walking alone, you’d have someone there with you to help you be just a little more safe. obviously not as good as an actual trusted friend, but for certain people in certain situations, better than nothing
A lot of people can pass a background check that you wouldn’t want to escort your daughter.
No different than getting in an Uber or taxi for that matter, except it’s harder to escape a car on the highway.
no for sure. it’s just we live in hell and there’s gonna be times you’re gonna be somewhere and you’re like “even a pretend friendly stranger who sucks will be better than nothing”
Even more so, a pretend friendly stranger that’s documented as being in your location.
So they can’t hire anyone in the class of people who’d have reason to fear walking around in certain neighborhoods?
Women, trans men, and certain minority groups would be discriminated against in their hiring? Or would using this service come with the risk of someone that’s more likely to get you targeted?
I feel like this wouldn’t work for many reasons.
Both see the same offer, neither get the money
This would be legitimately amazing.
You know… There’s a lot of women that wouldn’t dare to walk alone at night. That white Kevin has been vetted by Uber and has a paper trail.
How about not just a white Kevin but an Armed Stacey, or a security guard Michelle.
of course, it’d probably cost MORE to get someone to walk with you because they’d have to not only drive there and walk but walk back.
Vetted by Uber doesn’t really mean much.
Especially because there’s a huge industry for fake driver accounts so literally anyone can buy an uber ‘employment’.
How do they get by having their actual picture?
Guess people don’t look too closely? nfi tbh.
If Jimmy shows up in a black Toyota Camry with the right license plate, that’s one thing.
I’d like to think that if Jimmy is your walking buddy, you might notice these kinds of things, tho :)
Honestly this is a great joke but also could legitimately be a good service for someone who didn’t feel safe walking alone, or needs help navigating
A lot of university campuses have this. It’s a good idea.
My school had a number you could call and they’d dispatch a golf cart with 2 student workers to take you anywhere on campus for free, 24/7 (minus holidays and breaks when University offices were cosed).
They probably don’t charge money for that service though, and that’s a better idea.
They do, it’s part of the tuition
Maybe subsidized by it, but a lot of services from my local state institution are accessible by all.
Not really the same. Charging for this would discourage people from using it. They have to make a choice on feeling safe vs. spending money.
This gives everyone the option and subsidizes it to the entire community.
This is exactly why socializing things like this is beneficial.
Every service has a cost. That cost is the value of the labor being provided. But we decide as a society that providing services like this benefits everyone living in society. Regardless of if they use it directly or not.
When people say “free” in this context that’s what they mean. They mean the decision based on personal finance is removed.
We don’t want people choosing personal finance over safety or health. Removing that dependency benefits everyone.
Good point. A sort of community service I guess
Glad you got that! Its a major point in talking about social programs. If you can see this in college programs you can see the benefit when applied to social programs as well. Not sure if I can convince you of that too. But it’s always nice to get a response of “that makes sense” in this context.
It’s also run by people vetted by the school who are also employees so they generally have other responsibilities and then the service doesn’t generate a profit. Which is a long way of saying it’s not even remotely close to being the same
John Mulaney has a joke about how his parents knew Bill Clinton that way, from all going to undergrad together at Georgetown. Apparently all the women loved being escorted by Bill Clinton, and the men were all jealous.
Tbh, it makes sense. You don’t end up being president by being a no-rizz fool. You may be considering bringing up Trump as a counter-argument, but just look at all the people that are letting him pound them in the ass right now.
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The 99%
Wait: My memory of the story was that Clinton loved to escort women around and constantly signed up for the duty, and everyone else on all sides of the equation had no particular strong feelings about it. Except for John Mulaney’s mom.
Well yeah, he was the president.
I found out in my senior year, that my campus had been plagued by a serial rapist for several years, going back to before i was a freshman, and the school had covered it up. I only found out about it when i learned that my roommate’s girlfriend had a sorority sister on a full-ride scholarship to keep her quiet about being raped in her freshman year.
Suddenly, the pressure to use their chaperone service became clear.
You’re right, this is a great services for predators to register.
It’s a great idea. This is the shit side of it.
Especially if they’d help carry your bags and whatnot; that could be very helpful for someone who has mobility issues or just has a lot of things they need to bring. Well worth $7.50
Speaking as a person who does not fit the demographic for this service, the big problem I see with it is how you trust that the walking buddy is actually going to be safer than nothing. Uber drivers are somewhat regularly in the news for assaulting women and I know several women that don’t like riding them alone
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If they actually matched up with the routes other people might take, I would do it. I’m always walking around downtown anyways, but I’m a relatively large poor-looking man so I never get hassled.
The business model is to make it cheap initially by subsidizing it with investor capital. So, the gig worker may be paid more than the user is being charged. Then, eventually raise the price once the user base is large enough and dependent enough on it (or the prior alternative is sufficiently put out of business).
It’s at least 5 years old and it seems every single year the news outlets “fact check” it and declare it false.
Meanwhile we have actual conspiracy theories on official government websites and those same outlets say nothing.
I hate this timeline.
There’s been jokes that end up becoming reality so yearly fact-checks is appreciated
About to rent me one
Is uber not profitable?
“In 2023, Uber reported its first annual profit since going public in 2019, with a net income of $1.9 billion. This follows a period of consistent losses for the company.”
unlike other comments, I’d argue, like most tech, it was incredibly profitable for anyone except the people funding it.
Business is not about extracting money from goods and services, it’s about tricking VC funders to give you 50 million dollars a year
Their whole business model is “wait for self driving and then $$$” as they’ll no longer have to pay anybody.
Never has been Earth astronauts gun meme
No, but fr Uber is a masterclass in creative accounting and strategic acquisitions for further creative accounting.
