Urban skills, country skills
03/10/15 04:26
Although Susan and I lived in Chicago for four years, there are some urban skills that I lack. I’ve never been fully comfortable riding in taxis. I’ve done it and I think I know the routine fairly well, but I often seek alternatives to taxis when I go to an urban location. We do have taxis here in Rapid City, and there are times when it would make sense to use one, but in most cases there are alternatives. Probably the city where I have used taxis the most is Cleveland, home to the offices, chapel and hotel that are our church’s national setting. There is a train that runs directly from the airport to a location only a few blocks’ walk from our church, but we have been advised not to ride the train alone at night. Most of my trips to Cleveland involve arriving late at night and departing early in the morning to maximize the productive time that I am in the city. So I’ve learned to go to the cab station at the airport, state my destination, climb into a cab, inform the driver of my location, enjoy the ride, and pay at the end of the trip.
One of the challenges in learning to ride in a cab was knowing what was appropriate in terms of a tip. I found out, years ago, that it is customary in the US to tip between 10% and 20%. I also was told that a tim of $1 for anyone who carries your bag is appropriate. So do I add a tip for the cab driver who takes my bag at the curb and returns it to the curb at the end of the trip? I’m not made of money and I don’t want to spend more than is appropriate, but I also understand that cab drivers are humans who need to earn a living. I always feel a little bit awkward paying someone else to drive me around as if there was some kind of class distinction between driver and passenger in the first place, I certainly don’t want to be stingy with that other human being.
People who ride in cabs frequently learn to predict the cost of the ride. We folks from other areas who do not frequently ride in cabs often enter the cab without a clear sense of what the charge will be. That makes paying a bit of a problem. You don’t want to appear to be carrying large amounts of cash by requiring a lot of change after the ride. It is best if you can give the driver the fare plus the tip without requiring any change back.
Life got easier for me when cabs switched to accepting credit cards. I could pre-determine the amount of tip and have the cash available or I could tip through the credit card if necessary.
Life, however, changes. In many major cities there is a new alternative to a traditional cab: Uber is a car service that matches private drivers with riders through smartphone applications. After one signs up for the service, you can use the phone app to request a ride. It uses the map technology of the phone to pinpoint your location and estimate how long you will wait for a ride. It sets the fare and charges it through pre-approved credit cards or Paypal accounts on file. Uber prohibits users from paying in cash. Although it doesn’t prohibit tipping, it discourages it by not allowing for tips to be added through the phone app and stating that tips are not required. So it has a kind of double standard about whether or not to use cash and discourages tipping by making it more difficult.
I’ve yet to try Uber. I don’t have the app on my phone. I’ve read to know that the service provides different kinds of rides. You can request a high-end car, a regular family car, an SUV or a luxury vehicle. You can even use Uber to request a regular taxi in cities where cabs have arrangements with Uber. There have been some concerns over the safety of the rides. Uber claims that it checks the criminal backgrounds of drivers and makes sure that they have appropriate insurance, but the risks are probably a little higher than with licensed cab services.
It is silly that I have been thinking about such things, as I have no plans to travel to a city anytime soon. The thought came to me because I have been talking to a colleague who just moved out to the Dakotas after a life of living in cities. I think that he lacks some rural skills that I take for granted. He uses the Interstate whenever possible, even if it means driving extra miles. I prefer two-lane roads and often take them to avoid the Interstate. I’ve no fear of traveling on gravel roads, he avoids them. He worries about what would happen if he had a flat tire or his car broke down in an isolated location. I’d much rather have that happen in a lonely place than in the middle of dangerous traffic. He depends on his cell phone and GPS to navigate. I know of a lot of places where the data bases are inaccurate. There are even a couple of locations in South Dakota where you can end up on the wrong side of the Missouri River with such a device. I think of a GPS primarily as a good way to find your way around a city. Sometimes, like cutting across from Red Scaffold to Dupree, the GPS would direct you drive a lot of extra miles and if you ignore it and take the most direct road it will display your vehicle cutting across open country where there are no roads. I kind of get a kick out of driving on a high-quality gravel road where the device shows none. It gives me a feeling of knowing something that the satellites don’t know.
We each have our skills and our natural environments. I’m happy living where I do and traveling to visit new places. I don’t mind stepping outside of my comfort zone once in a while. And, I confess, I get a bit of pleasure giving an city person directions for driving on the reservation and watching the look on their face as I describe where to go. A city person would probably enjoy my asking how to use Uber. I might even be able to match the facial expression.
One of the challenges in learning to ride in a cab was knowing what was appropriate in terms of a tip. I found out, years ago, that it is customary in the US to tip between 10% and 20%. I also was told that a tim of $1 for anyone who carries your bag is appropriate. So do I add a tip for the cab driver who takes my bag at the curb and returns it to the curb at the end of the trip? I’m not made of money and I don’t want to spend more than is appropriate, but I also understand that cab drivers are humans who need to earn a living. I always feel a little bit awkward paying someone else to drive me around as if there was some kind of class distinction between driver and passenger in the first place, I certainly don’t want to be stingy with that other human being.
People who ride in cabs frequently learn to predict the cost of the ride. We folks from other areas who do not frequently ride in cabs often enter the cab without a clear sense of what the charge will be. That makes paying a bit of a problem. You don’t want to appear to be carrying large amounts of cash by requiring a lot of change after the ride. It is best if you can give the driver the fare plus the tip without requiring any change back.
Life got easier for me when cabs switched to accepting credit cards. I could pre-determine the amount of tip and have the cash available or I could tip through the credit card if necessary.
Life, however, changes. In many major cities there is a new alternative to a traditional cab: Uber is a car service that matches private drivers with riders through smartphone applications. After one signs up for the service, you can use the phone app to request a ride. It uses the map technology of the phone to pinpoint your location and estimate how long you will wait for a ride. It sets the fare and charges it through pre-approved credit cards or Paypal accounts on file. Uber prohibits users from paying in cash. Although it doesn’t prohibit tipping, it discourages it by not allowing for tips to be added through the phone app and stating that tips are not required. So it has a kind of double standard about whether or not to use cash and discourages tipping by making it more difficult.
I’ve yet to try Uber. I don’t have the app on my phone. I’ve read to know that the service provides different kinds of rides. You can request a high-end car, a regular family car, an SUV or a luxury vehicle. You can even use Uber to request a regular taxi in cities where cabs have arrangements with Uber. There have been some concerns over the safety of the rides. Uber claims that it checks the criminal backgrounds of drivers and makes sure that they have appropriate insurance, but the risks are probably a little higher than with licensed cab services.
It is silly that I have been thinking about such things, as I have no plans to travel to a city anytime soon. The thought came to me because I have been talking to a colleague who just moved out to the Dakotas after a life of living in cities. I think that he lacks some rural skills that I take for granted. He uses the Interstate whenever possible, even if it means driving extra miles. I prefer two-lane roads and often take them to avoid the Interstate. I’ve no fear of traveling on gravel roads, he avoids them. He worries about what would happen if he had a flat tire or his car broke down in an isolated location. I’d much rather have that happen in a lonely place than in the middle of dangerous traffic. He depends on his cell phone and GPS to navigate. I know of a lot of places where the data bases are inaccurate. There are even a couple of locations in South Dakota where you can end up on the wrong side of the Missouri River with such a device. I think of a GPS primarily as a good way to find your way around a city. Sometimes, like cutting across from Red Scaffold to Dupree, the GPS would direct you drive a lot of extra miles and if you ignore it and take the most direct road it will display your vehicle cutting across open country where there are no roads. I kind of get a kick out of driving on a high-quality gravel road where the device shows none. It gives me a feeling of knowing something that the satellites don’t know.
We each have our skills and our natural environments. I’m happy living where I do and traveling to visit new places. I don’t mind stepping outside of my comfort zone once in a while. And, I confess, I get a bit of pleasure giving an city person directions for driving on the reservation and watching the look on their face as I describe where to go. A city person would probably enjoy my asking how to use Uber. I might even be able to match the facial expression.