By the time he dropped me off, I had tears in my ears.
I know there is controversy about Uber, personally, I have enjoyed the service on my trips out of town. Every time – without exception – I have been met by a very friendly driver, in a very clean car and have had great experiences.
Since I talk for a living and I’m curious by nature, I love excavating the stories that these unique drivers have a’plenty!
And so it was on a recent airport drive to Toronto, I met Leonardo – a 48-year-old, married father of three, who had already done a load of laundry, taken the dogs for a walk and went out for coffee all before my 5:30 a.m. pick up!
He told me a little backstage about Uber – that while it is optional for the passengers to rate the drivers, it is mandatory for the drivers to rate the passengers and then the drivers and choose whether to take the call. I’m not bragging but he said I was ‘Uber royalty’ with a 5-star rating – kinda bragging!
Anyway…
He said he personally doesn’t like the rating system for passengers. One day he got a call from someone with a very low rating and he was curious as to why so he went to pick the passenger up. Turns out they had a great drive, good conversation and it was easy to give this passenger a perfect score. Leonardo said he knew right away why this person was rated so low, this passenger was transgender. Leonardo not only gave this person a well-deserved great rating as a kind and respectful passenger but he took it a step further. He phoned Uber to explain and try to remedy the situation so that the score would adequate reflect a non-judgemental view.
I don’t know what happened with the score, but I do know that I was super impressed with the above and beyond effort that Leonardo made on behalf of this stranger.
Simple concepts that are not always easily implemented; treat others as they would want to be treated and stand up for yourself and also for someone who may appreciate having you as an advocate – whether they will ever know it or not.
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