So I suspect my rideshare driver might have been earning extra for viral marketing
So I rarely take rideshare, but sometimes it's important. Today, my driver was friendly, chatty, personable, driving a brand new Ford electric vehicle. He mentioned that he had spent more than a decade selling for an auto dealership before starting to drive. He bragged about the car, the price, the fact that it's built like a tank and safe in a crash. He talked down Tesla and Elon Musk for faults and failings I'm sure most of us can imagine without effort. He had an answer for every anecdote I told about my car experiences that brought the conversation back around to the advantages of this make and model of car, including the fact that cars are significantly cheaper than a couple of years ago.
It wasn't a terrible experience but I feel bemused, puzzled, a little annoyed, a little bit impressed. It's creative if this is in fact a strategy not a coincidence.
Can anyone relate to this experience? What are your thoughts?
On one hand, you may have just encountered an EV Vegan CrossFitter Astrologist. Like it or not (I don't) but an EV is currently a personality trait for some people. He might've memorized the fact sheet because he bought an expensive not actually a Mustang and he's got to ensure everyone he picks up knows it's the right choice.
Or, maybe he was driving the demo car and hoping to drum up some sales!
The joy of psychological self image when it comes to stuff over skills.
Weird as hell isn't it?
Oh that's very possible!
Just like how there are train / tank / gun / bus enthusiasts who can tell you everything about every model, there are car nuts as well. But also the "my purchases define who I am" angle too.....
I was like that, too, briefly, when I did not choose a diamond engagement ring. I made what I thought was a very clever but unconventional choice, at the time, and I wanted everyone to acknowledge it as the clearly superior choice.
I think this might have more to do with it than anything.
He spent a decade learning the fact sheets for cars and selling them to other people, so cars are probably a minor passion for him and sales pitches are probably subconscious for him. Combine this with him buying a new car that even he was excited about, it seems like it would be the perfect storm for a conversation that almost feels like a sales pitch.
I wouldn't be shocked if it was some new attempt at marketing, but it would seem weird to aim your new car viral marketing at rideshare users... I feel like it's a demographic that most probably aren't going to be in the market for purchasing a new vehicle, for one reason or another?
Yeah, this is just a sales person. They literally can not stop selling. A version of my own personal hell was sitting in a hotel lobby in between two sales people who's conference had just ended but had nowhere to be for a few hours. It was just two jackasses trying to out-jackass each other.
... there may be a reason I didn't last long in sales.
One thing I've learned in taking many rideshares is how.... interesting people can be.
Once (pre-pandemic) I had a Uber pool where a bunch of people tried to get in at the same time, and when the driver refused, they looked at me like I would absolve them??? Obviously I shook my head and they got annoyed and left.
I also had a driver that genuinely believed in secret society lizard people. When we got to my destination (my parent's house, I really regret putting in the actual address instead of a cross street or something), he insisted on showing me a whole video of all the proof of a secret society controlling the US and sightings of lizard people, literally. Very bizzare stuff but he wasn't like... dangerous looking or anything so I just said it was interesting and went about my way.
A few months ago I had an Uber driver who was a black man. We had a completely normal conversation about his kids and his other job for a few minutes, and then out of nowhere he brought up the fact that he believes the trans-atlantic slave trade didn't happen.
My white ass was completely speechless for a minute - I was the meme of the woman's face with math equations floating around her.
I am fascinated by conspiracy theories so I wish I would've asked him more about what he meant, but I was genuinely at a loss for how to have the conversation. He said one of the reasons he doesn't believe that African slaves were brought here on ships is: "How would those people have survived in conditions like that?!" I responded "...Well, I suppose that's why a lot of them unfortunately didn't survive the trip." He responded incredulously, saying of course he knew that not all of them survived. (?) Again, I was speechless. I think the cognitive dissonance triggered him to change the conversation, and I certainly didn't want to tell a black man how to feel or what to think about the trans-atlantic slave trade, so we talked about normal things for the rest of the ride. Super nice guy, he just fell down some rabbit holes during covid (he admitted he found out about the "information" during the early days of the pandemic after his business was forced to close,) and I guess he never climbed back out.
I looked up the conspiracy theory online and somehow wasn't able to find much information about it. I am assuming that the theory probably leads into something related to black people being native to North America, or maybe even the idea that they were brought there by aliens/spaceships or just some other transportation that wasn't boats.
Props to that guy for introducing me to a conspiracy theory I hadn't yet heard of, I thought I had collected them all.
As a black woman from West Africa, this is sooo interesting! I didn't realize some black people actually believe this.
Sadly some people deeply distrust authority figures including educators and experts to the point that they reject common knowledge. Also education is not equally distributed in the US. Some schools are terrible.
Yes, very strange. This is absolutely not a common mindset for black people in America, to be clear! The main reason it caught me off guard is because almost all of the conspiracy theorists in the US are white people. In fact, I'm more surprised when my white Uber drivers aren't conspiracy theorists, than when they are. Most of the white drivers seem to be right-wing wackos, and most of the black drivers seem like normal guys.
It kind of sounds like he encountered the Nuwaubian Nation cult, who believe Africans were already present in North America by the time Europeans arrived. As far as I can tell, they do believe Europeans enslaved Africans, but it was all a horrible mistake: Europeans were created by Africans to serve as a guardian race for Africans, but then Africans lost control of them, and Europeans are now undergoing their self-destruct phase.
Was this in Georgia or New York by any chance? Those are the states where the Nuwaubians were most active before its leader was imprisoned (though with the internet, I guess they could be anywhere in the world now).
Nope, Minneapolis. And yeah, I believe he mentioned YouTube was where he found out about it.
Thanks for the link! That group could be the source of what he was talking about. I'm not sure, since I didn't press him for more information than the small bit I mentioned in my comment. But that article was fascinating regardless.
You should have hissed at him.
The closest thing I’m aware of to this that actually happened is Lyft paying salespeople to take Ubers in San Francisco to tell the drivers that they’d make more money driving for Lyft. I met someone who had that job.
I've had people talk to me that way, it's bizarre! I've stopped them and asked if they might, legitimately, be attempting to advertise or something, always had them deny it up and down, they just enjoy Product and want to share its benefits. Commercials mess with your head, yo
Inrode in a Kia Niro that the driver spent the entire ride geeking out about. "It tells me whem regenerative braling is on, gets , mileage,etc." It was a fun ride.
I also chatted with a Tesla driver about how Uber Green or whatever works, which was also interesting.
He might just like the car.
I do enjoy the conversations that happen in rideshare/taxis. I spent a night driving for the university safe ride program (free rides for students who have been drinking and need to get home). I easily slipped into the role of making small talk which is usually am very poor at.
My oddest rideshare experience was a guy who learned I studied math and then spent the whole ride telling me about his "quantum theory of numbers" where some how this 2 is different from that 2 at a quantum level. The worst part was when we pulled up to my house (which I was already regretting him knowing the address of) he exclaimed "I know this place, I think I've picked up your wife." She rode a lot due to not having a license so not surprising but not the most comfortable situation.
On the flip side my favorite experienced was with a retired ambassador who shared a bunch of great stories of his time in diplomacy.
My favorite ride share conversation was with a driver who had retired from owning a contracting/construction business. He was an immigrant from Iran and he said driving got him out of the house meeting people,
He was also the most vehement atheist I have ever met in person. I guess I can see where he is coming from.
I got a Shipt order from Target delivered to my house this week, and the driver also left a lollipop and his business card (real estate agent). It was kinda weird, but I guess that's one way hustle.