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Lyft driver's hilarious menu of 10 different types of ride options is pure genius

All Uber and Lyft drivers should have a ride options menu.

Eric Alper/Facebook

Cameron the creative Lyft driver offers a variety of ride options to his passengers.

Have you ever ridden in an Uber or a Lyft and had the driver talk a lot when you felt like being quiet? Or not say a word when you tried to make conversation? Or play music you found annoying?

When you hop into a driver's car, it's a crapshoot what kind of ride you're going to have. But at least one Lyft driver is removing the mystery a bit by letting passengers choose.

Facebook user Eric Alper shared a post that showed a photo of a piece of paper stuck on the back of a car's headrest that read:

"Welcome to Cameron's car!!!"


"To ensure the best ride possible for you, I have prepared a menu of the various types of rides I offer. Just choose one (or don't, that's an option too) then sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. :)"

Then it listed the 10 ride options Cameron offers:

1. The Awkward Ride - You ignore this menu completely, then we will sit in silence for the remainder of the ride.

2. The Funny Ride - I tell you jokes or entertaining stories from my life.

3. The Silent Ride -

4. The Creepy Ride - I don't say anything but I keep staring at you in the rearview mirror.

5. The Karaoke Ride - We rock out to hits from the 80s, early 2000s or literally whatever you want.

6. The Bubbles Ride - We blow bubbles the whole time.

7. The Small Talk Ride - We talk about how crazy the weather's been lately and I ask if you caught the game last night.

8. The Therapy Ride - You vent to me about your problems and I listen.

9. The Drunk Ride - You throw up in my car.

10. The Cliche Ride - You ask me how long I've been driving for Lyft."

OK, the Bubbles Ride sounds fun, but also maybe a little dangerous. And the Drunk Ride is the main reason I've never wanted to be a Lyft or Uber driver. I may have unintentionally taken a both a Therapy Ride and a Creepy Ride before.

But seriously, the concept is fabulous. People often want something different in a ride depending on their mood, so the idea of having options to choose from is brilliant. The list also directly addresses the awkwardness that is often present when you're getting a ride from someone, so it makes a natural icebreaker and conversation starter—particularly helpful for folks who struggle with social anxiety.

People in the comments loved it.

"I'm sure this wasn't the intention but this is a great example of disability accommodations that everyone can enjoy," wrote one person. "Being able to choose how much energy I expend is so helpful."

"There should be a feature on both Uber and Lyft indicating what type of ride a rider wants or expects," wrote another. "I usually don't talk, but sometimes the driver keeps persisting and I feel awkward at times."

"It clears the air, takes the awkwardness out of it, and establishes expectations for the ride, on both sides," wrote another. "Great idea."


There are some more options I'd love to see added, though:

The Pep Talk Ride - You need encouragement? I'll give you everything I've got to pump you up.

The Tour Guide Ride - I share interesting details about places we pass and offer advice on cool things to do around the area.

The Life Story Ride - We estimate how long your ride will be, set a timer, and each of us shares our life story for half the ride. (No questions, unless the ride goes longer.)

The Deep Questions Ride - We skip the small talk and get right to the big stuff—meaning of life, existence of God, our place in the universe, etc.

The High School Debate Ride - We pick a controversy, flip a coin to decide who will take which side, and debate regardless of our own personal views.

The Pretend Persona Ride - We each make up totally fake names and personas and converse as them so we can chat without actually getting personal at all.

So many possibilities. What kind of ride would you want to take?


This article originally appeared on 04.21.22

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Teen upset with parents for not picking him up, tells comical story about his first Uber ride

"Then I get some random text from a random number talking about some 'Brenda's on the way,' I was like, 'my grandma Brenda?"

Iyonna Bland|TikTok

Teen tells comical story about his first Uber ride

Teenagers are an interesting bunch. They are still very much children and at times behave that way but they also want to be treated like adults. It's a paradox of behaviors that can sometimes result in parents getting lectured by their teen, which is exactly what happened to one couple when they couldn't pick up their son.

Iyonna Bland uploaded a video to TikTok showing her son Caleb starting to lecture his parents about not being there to pick him up from football practice. The parents are generally early to pick him up but on this day, Bland was stuck in meetings all day and her husband was also working unable to collect the teen from practice. Obviously, the teen was not left to fend for himself. Bland ordered an Uber for her son when they realized neither would be off in time to pick him up.

But Caleb was not impressed with their choices and decided to let them know exactly how he was feeling.

"I wasn't even supposed to talk to you today. I was supposed to have an attitude but I had to fake it, "Caleb says. "First of all, y'all already know I don't like no rain, so I'm sitting outside after football practice, after hours. Y'all were supposed to been there 15 minutes early."

The teen's mom can be heard laughing but he is still not amused, and looks like a parent scolding a child. Gosh darn it, mom take him seriously, he means business. Caleb goes on to explain that he's had football practice all week and one of his parents has been there early each day so he was expecting the same service. He's unmoved by the fact that his parents have to work to pay for the equipment and practice he's attending.

"Tell me why I call this man and he [his dad] treating me like he's Hollywood or something? Like he's rich. Mama he ain't even answer the phone, I called him twice. He ain't even answer the phone," Caleb complains.

The way this teen tells a story is hilarious and its hard to keep a straight face even when he's being serious because of how naturally comedic he is. It gets even harder not to laugh when he describes his first experience using Uber.

"Then I get some random text from a random number," he says. "Talking about some 'Brenda's on the way,' I was like, 'my grandma Brenda?"

@iyonnabland

I was in meetings all day for work so I couldn’t leave before yall go saying we neglecting our child he did get home safe #fypシ #foryou #foryourpage #fyp #blacktiktok #kidsoftiktok #boymomlife #parenting #funny #teens #uber

When he received the text saying Brenda was 10 minutes away, that's when he realized it was in fact not his grandmother that lives states away in Chicago. It was the Uber driver that his mom sent to pick him up but when Bland called to tell him Brenda was on her way to pick him up, he was immediately uninterested.

"So then you called me talking about 'Brenda about to come get you,' I'm like 'who is Brenda?' cause I'm not getting in the car," Caleb tells his mom.

Listening to him tell the story will leave you in stitches. Poor kid thought his parents forgot about him and Brenda was a kidnapper. That's one interesting first time Uber experience. But don't think dad got out of this lecture, Caleb expressed his thoughts in a follow up below.

@iyonnabland

Replying to @😜Sillylicious😝 #fypシ #foryou #foryourpage #fyp #blacktiktok #kidsoftiktok #boymomlife #parenting #funny #teens #momandson #momsoftiktok

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Joy

Uber driver stopped his fare to save people from a burning building in New York City

'You’d be surprised what any given moment can bring out in you.'

Courtesy of Jemimah Wei

Uber driver saves people from burning builidng

It's not every day your Uber driver stops the car to don a cape and become a hero. OK, there wasn't a cape, but there was certainly a hero. Recently, Fritz Sam was driving for Uber and he was on his way to drop his passenger off at LaGuardia Airport when he noticed flames spilling out of a brownstone window. Instead of continuing his route, he stopped to help.

You may be thinking, "What about the passenger?" Well, Sam consulted with his passenger before leaping into action. The passenger was Jemimah Wei, a 29-year-old writer, and she helped Sam yell up to the second story window to check for people still inside. Sam told PIX11, “Together we just started shouting, ‘Is anyone inside?’ Screaming at the top of our lungs, ‘Come out, come out, there’s a fire.’ I think I just made a decision at that moment to just go inside.” According to The Washington Post, when Sam made it into the building he saw a man and a woman, but the woman refused to move when he urged her to evacuate.

Sam told The Washington Post that convincing the woman to leave "took a little bit of negotiating." He told her, “I’m not leaving without you. If you’re not leaving, I’m not leaving.” He told the publication that the woman eventually left with him and made it safely outside. But Sam wasn't done, the man was still inside, so Sam went back in a second time.

Eventually, Sam was able to guide the man to safety, telling PIX11, “I held his arm because he was a little wobbly and we just walked to the front door. The officer was there. The first firefighter was coming through the door with a hose. So the professionals are here. I’m gonna get out.”

Thankfully, everyone was able to get out of the building safely and no one was injured in the fire, according to multiple news sources. Saving the people in the building was a community effort. Without realizing it, Sam gave his cellphone to a stranger before running into the building and he left his car in the road in front of a fire hydrant, he explained to CNBC.

According to CNBC, a stranger realized Sam's car was blocking the hydrant and was able to get his keys to move the car down the street. His phone was also returned and, surprisingly, he hopped back in his car to drop his passenger off at the airport.

Funnily enough, Sam apologized to Wei for the delay and was concerned he smelled like smoke, but Wei wasn't concerned, according to The Washington Post. “Firstly, you smell fine,” Wei recalled telling him. “And secondly, you just saved a life. Maybe multiple.”

Even after saving people from a burning building, Sam was still providing excellent customer service. Yes, she still made it in time for her 10 a.m. flight, because of course she did. What an amazing story!

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Uber announces new safety features, but are the changes too little, too late?

Uber doesn’t exactly have a sterling reputation when it comes to keeping its riders safe. Its latest update could change that.

In a blog post, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi outlined a number of new features aimed at passenger safety, including the ability to dial 911 in-app and giving riders the opportunity to designate trusted contacts who will be able to access trip details.

Additionally, Khosrowshahi pledged a stronger driver screening process and announced an expansion of the company’s Safety Advisory Board, which will now include former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson. The feature changes will be rolled out sometime this summer.

“Every day, our technology puts millions of people together in cars in cities around the world,” he wrote. “Helping keep people safe is a huge responsibility, and one we do not take lightly. That’s why as CEO, I’m committed to putting safety at the core of everything we do.”

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi speaks onstage at The New York Times 2017 DealBook Conference. Photo by Michael Cohen/Getty Images for The New York Times.

This may be little more than damage control and an effort to fight off existing and future lawsuits.

In 2016, an Uber driver in Chicago was charged with sexually assaulting an intoxicated passenger. The following year, another Chicago woman sued the ride-sharing service over sexual assault by a different driver. A Los Angeles Uber driver was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault and kidnapping in 2017, and a Virginia driver was arrested in January 2018, again, for alleged sexual assault.

An Uber car in New York City. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images.

In 2017, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities reviewed the records of 70,789 Uber and Lyft drivers, and found that 8,206 (or roughly 11%) failed a background check — some with serious and violent convictions on their records (51 of the rejected drivers were convicted sex offenders).

If not for the screening, the drivers could still be on the road today, as they had passed whatever background check system the ride-sharing companies used.

Late last year, two women brought a class-action lawsuit against Uber, arguing negligence and systemic corruption. The lawsuit reads, in part:

“Uber has done everything possible to continue using low-cost, woefully inadequate background checks on drivers and has failed to monitor drivers for any violent or inappropriate conduct after they are hired. Nothing meaningful has been done to make rides safer for passengers — especially women. This is no longer an issue of ‘rogue’ drivers who act unlawfully.”

Among other actions, the lawsuit called on the company to address its driver background screening system.

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