
Homeless,assaulted,broke: drivers left behind as Uber promises change at the top - walrus1066
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/17/uber-drivers-homeless-assault-travis-kalanick
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Cozumel
>'I’m an Uber and Lyft driver, I make less than minimum wage. My option is to
sleep in my backseat, or to sleep on the street. Which would you prefer?”'

I'm not a fan of Uber but these people are doing it to themselves, no-ones
holding a gun to their head. They need to stop blaming Uber, take
responsibility for their own lives and do something else!

If you're working a job and you know it's going to make you homeless why would
you continue? I really have a hard time understanding why people would
intentionally do that to themselves.

~~~
kafkaesq
_These people are doing it to themselves, no-ones holding a gun to their head_

Wow. What an attitude to have toward the suffering of others.

 _I really have a hard time understanding why people would intentionally do
that to themselves._

Because they don't have any other attractive -- or really, _any_ viable
prospects on the job market? Something like that, perhaps?

~~~
GhostVII
But why is that Ubers problem. If it was a job, I would understand, but being
an Uber driver has no barrier to entry for most people, and no penalties if
you leave, so clearly they are providing a net benefit to the drivers life
otherwise they just wouldn't do it.

~~~
kafkaesq
_Clearly they are providing a net benefit to the drivers life otherwise they
just wouldn 't do it._

The logic in this statement is inherently flawed. The whole point of the
article is that Uber _appears_ , at first, to be providing a net benefit to
people who sign up to become drivers -- only to leave them holding the bag
when problems (inevitably) arise, and which "real" companies normally take
care of for their employees. Like what happened to Casmir Patterson, for
example:

 _Casmir Patterson, 32, found early on in her Uber-driving career that she
preferred to work late nights, when the LA traffic was more tolerable and when
she could provide rides to women looking for a safe way to get home. But on 13
June 2016, during her last ride of the night, three intoxicated men entered
her vehicle in West Hollywood and she quickly sensed trouble._

 _One of her passengers sounded like he was going to vomit in her car. She
pulled over and asked the trio to leave. They refused, and then dragged her
into her backseat where they started punching her. “I thought I was going to
die,” she told the Guardian._

 _The men eventually fled, but not before kicking the outside of her car and
running off with her keys._

 _Patterson called police and reported the incident to Uber in the hope that
the company could track down her attackers and help her with medical bills.
But the criminal investigation went nowhere, and Uber, she said, did little to
support her. LA police did not respond to repeated inquiries._

It's not like we need to ask, "is this Uber's problem?" In situations like
these, Uber _is_ the problem.

