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Is it impolite not to make small talk with your driver?

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brownbear
599 Rider
 Posted 6 years, 3 months ago

I never really know. I kind of like to just chill out and surf my phone or something in the car, but do drivers find this rude? On the other hand, small talk gets annoying and awkward quickly when you take enough rides.

What do drivers think?

Comments

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    amcbeth
    344 Rider Driver
     5 years ago

    I personally like conversation with my riders.

    Some of my previous views on people in general have either changed or softened since I started driving with Uber.

    I have my own rules on conversation. I won't talk politics, religion, race, sex, or tips. I try to make my car a friendly place to be. If a rider goes there, I just listen, they just may want to vent.

    That being said, I may have been the one that said Uber should have a feature that the rider could select to state the the rider does not wish to engage in conversation.

    Their are numorous reasons that the rider wishes to not engage in conversation. If I know this in advance, then I'll honor their request.

    I have a favorite sentence that I say to riders after they are in the car. Their answer or lack of one lets me know whether they want to talk or be left alone with their phone.

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      RobinH74
      41 Driver
       4 years ago

      Right,  you are a normal human being who can read the room and pick up on cues when people want to talk vs. not. I almost feel like this is a lost art.

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        amcbeth
        344 Rider Driver
         4 years ago

        My name is Art, and I am not lost.

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    ShamedJames
    97
     6 years ago

    Nah, dude.  they are relieved they aren't talking.  you ain't special and no one cares about you.  sorry.

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    cacocay
    14 Driver Driver
     4 years ago  (edited 4 years ago)

    As an Uber driver ,I love to drive in order to have fun get excited to meet a positive cool people with a friendly attitude especially those since of hummer who are funny and chatty keeping me entertained by talking to them treating me as a special making my job happy .But sometimes ,when I pick up those arrogant ,jerks and snappy customers they don't say  "hello "and just get in and start giving an orders . Many formal passengers want to ride in silence which is very rude and super  awkward, and probably many of the drivers on the contrary likes to chatt for fun .Still, as a human being  need to contact with each other showing a human interactions  with a nice and friendly attitude treating each other with respect . I always rating those kind of the nice humble riders 5 stars if they are friendly and socialize with a sense of hummer  by joking and  having a small chatting with the riders trying not ignoring them if they want to talk which m…

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    As an Uber driver ,I love to drive in order to have fun get excited to meet a positive cool people with a friendly attitude especially those since of hummer who are funny and chatty keeping me entertained by talking to them treating me as a special making my job happy .But sometimes ,when I pick up those arrogant ,jerks and snappy customers they don't say  "hello "and just get in and start giving an orders . Many formal passengers want to ride in silence which is very rude and super  awkward, and probably many of the drivers on the contrary likes to chatt for fun .Still, as a human being  need to contact with each other showing a human interactions  with a nice and friendly attitude treating each other with respect . I always rating those kind of the nice humble riders 5 stars if they are friendly and socialize with a sense of hummer  by joking and  having a small chatting with the riders trying not ignoring them if they want to talk which make me fill having good time doing my job keeping entertained getting treated as a spacial super star which make me so excited and also keeping our vehicle clean with no mess or damages  or eating and drinking inside making a mess  .if the riders do not engage in conversations I will downrate them with 2 to 3 stars maximum for being formal ,rude and jerks with arrogant behavior acting like they are bossy treating the drivers as a slave especially if they jumped to my car asking me to take them to their destination  without saying "Hello" and also if they are not talkative being so quite during the trip entertaining themselves by  texting or talking on the cell or people and also if they are talking among to each other with people inside my car ignoring me instead of chatting with me which is really awkward and super rude ,getting frustrating and makes me feel like a machine doing my job which not nice at all to be rude and disrespectful with no reason .Those kind of riders need to understand Uber is a community service not like a taxi cab service taking them from point A to B  making a space between the riders and drivers.Also it's very annoying ,super awkward and very rude for being quite not chatty or chatting among to each other keep the driver ignored and also when they ask the driver turning on the radio very loud beside ignoring the drivers chatting among to each other so that they deserve 2 stars for misbehave with no respect for the friendly Uber drivers and their vehicle . So if the riders want to be a good 5 star rating passenger they need to make that " Don't Ignore your friendly Uber driver ". 

    If the riders are looking for a quite service with a quite formal driver without being sociable and friendly avoiding getting a bad star rating for being formal with a drivers all the time during the trip taking them only from point A to point B just to have a relaxation doing their own privacy by making a space or a wall between the drivers not communicating with them without a friendly atmosphere such as : listening to the music or playing a video on the cell phone and also texting or talking on the phone without an excuse or doing their own entertainment by chatting among to each other ....etc ,it's much better to take a public transport up such as a taxi cab , shuttle , bus or luminous with those formal quite drivers . However ;those cab drivers are unfriendly with their passenger , busy and making a space always who are not talkative with there passenger as long they are looking for a quite and relaxation service like that and also they don't have any friendly greeting their riders like us as an Uber's partners.However;If those arrogant riders ignoring us as a friendly drivers like to have a quite ride with your phone texting ,talking and chatting with peploe with you keeping the uber driver ignored by treating us as a server or slave its will be better for them to take a public transport up such as a taxi cab , shuttle , bus or luminous which is fair enough if they don't show us any friendly treatment with a respect as a human being .


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    DriveMeToTheMoon
    291 Driver Driver
     6 years ago

    Wasn't there another thread about how there should be a "feature" for riders to request driver to NOT engage in conversations?

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      RPaulson
      560 Driver
       6 years ago

      Dude, that's awful.  What a shitty world we live in.

      I've been a livery driver for black cars, and we have an unwritten rule of engagement on talking.  You as a driver don't strike up conversations (except for hellos, of course) but you let the passengers strike up conversations.  You as a driver never bring up new topics and when there is a dialogue, always talk less than the passenger.

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        StuffinMuffin
        864 Rider Driver
         6 years ago

        I've heard the same at fancy sushi bars and counter seating at Japanese restaurants.  Same rules.  

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        amcbeth
        344 Rider Driver
         5 years ago

        Mr Paulson, we lived in a shitty world when we didn't talk with China. Now we are their greatest trading partner. All because we talked to one another.

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          RPaulson
          560 Driver
           5 years ago

          Just to be clear I wasn't saying we should not talk to passengers. We are to speak and have a conversation when engaged. If they ask a question, you answer politely and fully. 

          You can ask questions, expand on the story, etc., but just make sure you aren't the only one talking. Try to speak as much or less than the customer.

          This is the best way to make sure you do not go over your boundaries. Some riders prefer to speak and some do not, and unfortunately, it isn't easy to tell. Some drivers tell stories unprompted or bring up new conversation topics, but how do they know if the passenger wants to have those conversations? They don't.

          No need to overthink this. It's about being friendly and respectful at the same time.

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    KarinaWakaba
    12 Rider
     5 years ago

    If you are engaged and do not respond in a small-talk, yeah, I think that would be impolite. Whether that deserves a negative rating or whatever is another story. 

    People sometimes do want to be left alone. You can always politely ask that you be left alone.

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    T-RabitDriven
    224 Driver
     5 years ago

    Well, if I asked you a question and you said nothing bad?  Yeah, that's kinda rude.

    I mean..  come on.  Must you ask what it means to be impolite?

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    cheesehead
    524 Rider Driver
     6 years ago

    Talk or don't talk. Up to you. You're the one paying.

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    ant
    122 Rider
     6 years ago

    I don't drive for uber but as a passenger I don't really talk much. Riding time is a time when I can get some stuff done.

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      TonyAlmeida
      1149 Rider
       6 years ago

      stuff?  so ominous.  what is there to do while be driven around?

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    StuffinMuffin
    864 Rider Driver
     6 years ago

    Doesn't the same rule apply when you are sitting next to someone on a flight?

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      CrazyCrayons
      146
       6 years ago

      and what exactly is that rule?  entertain us. no, i am serious.