Well, Never Mind
I'd gotten home from work on New Year's to an anonymous comment containing a vague and baseless threat from someone who was way too sensitive about privacy issues. Thinking that the original anonymous moron* had been placated, I was ready to give-up with the assumption that Portland was just filled with hyper-sensitive jerks.
Instead, as this comment did indeed spring from my very first troll, I've decided to largely ignore it. Look dumbass: businesses employ many different people. Referencing where someone works is not an invasion of privacy if there isn't additional information contained that would identify them. Lots of people have jobs.
Indicating what city they live in is not an invasion of privacy. I'll even go so far as to say that saying something like "around a certain intersection" is okay when that simply narrows things down to 25-200 potential residences, depending on how one defines "around" and where in town it is.
I have, though, decided to remove all references to the company I work for. Again, there isn't anything on here which would cause me to be disciplined, and in fact (until I took them down, as they indicated the company) there were photographs on here which would have easily allowed management to determine who I am. I'm proud to work for what, as far as I can determine, is the best damn cab company in the U.S., for both the driver and the customer. So proud that I tried to get us some business.
That being said, there will always be unsavory aspects to driving a taxi cab at night. Weird and fucked up situations will arise, and reading about those weird and fucked up situations is probably why most people come here. The company prides itself on having earned such a good public image, and has done great things to drag itself out of the shadiness associated with the cab business. But if someone who doesn't understand that goes searching on the internet for a cab company in Portland, it's probably best if they don't come across my encounters with crack whores and then associate that with my company.
To the "cab driver's wife": you're not nearly as smart as you seem to think you are, and make yourself look like more of a fool with everything you write. Trying to be somewhat polite and explain things to you hasn't worked, so I'll strongly encourage you to just shut-up and go away. You don't seem to have much grasp of some basic aspects of the internet, which I don't have the tolerance to lay out at this point.
The other morning I had a nice, long talk with a friend who started with the company over forty years ago. He's perhaps the most senior and well-respected driver we have, just an amazing and truly decent and kind human being. He was telling me about how happy he was that so many of the racist, ignorant idiots had been given the boot.
He was talking about you. Not you specifically, of course, but drivers like you.
I gave you an opportunity to email me and get to know me, with an indication that I'd be happy to talk to you and let you know who I am. You didn't take that opportunity, instead choosing to threaten me and continue to yap anonymously about your paranoid fears and bigoted opinions. So you don't know who I am.
Keep that in mind: I may not know who you are (and I don't want to, at this point), but you don't know who I am, either. And as the past month has made clearer to me, who I am is one of the most respected and well-liked night drivers in the company. You can bitch and moan all you want about the "blacks" and the "Mexicans" and the food that gets puts on your table, but the fact of the matter is that you're a dinosaur, and I'm homo sapiens.
Like the guy whose picture you were upset was up here. He's not with the company any more. Another fat, paranoid, racist idiot that we got rid of. It's odd how the massive uptick in our business over the last couple of years seems to have coincided with the elimination of that kind of person, and the growing prevalence of young, creative, and open-minded people like me. A strange coincidence, I'm sure.
It's too bad you hated the website so much that you seem to have read the entire thing. That must have taken hours. I'm completely serious when I say that you should instead devote your time to something that brings you some enjoyment and fulfillment. Huffing paint sounds about right.
To everyone else, I'll be back with an update on New Year's, which will feature exactly some of the weird, fucked-up tidbits that you've come to know and love - including perhaps the best example ever of why I, for one, absolutely love Mexicans.
*There's a big difference between my "anonymity," which comes with the accountability and identifiability of a website and email address, and this person's. I'd happily use my first or last name, like Michelle, but both of mine are (un)fortunately very rare.
Instead, as this comment did indeed spring from my very first troll, I've decided to largely ignore it. Look dumbass: businesses employ many different people. Referencing where someone works is not an invasion of privacy if there isn't additional information contained that would identify them. Lots of people have jobs.
Indicating what city they live in is not an invasion of privacy. I'll even go so far as to say that saying something like "around a certain intersection" is okay when that simply narrows things down to 25-200 potential residences, depending on how one defines "around" and where in town it is.
I have, though, decided to remove all references to the company I work for. Again, there isn't anything on here which would cause me to be disciplined, and in fact (until I took them down, as they indicated the company) there were photographs on here which would have easily allowed management to determine who I am. I'm proud to work for what, as far as I can determine, is the best damn cab company in the U.S., for both the driver and the customer. So proud that I tried to get us some business.
That being said, there will always be unsavory aspects to driving a taxi cab at night. Weird and fucked up situations will arise, and reading about those weird and fucked up situations is probably why most people come here. The company prides itself on having earned such a good public image, and has done great things to drag itself out of the shadiness associated with the cab business. But if someone who doesn't understand that goes searching on the internet for a cab company in Portland, it's probably best if they don't come across my encounters with crack whores and then associate that with my company.
To the "cab driver's wife": you're not nearly as smart as you seem to think you are, and make yourself look like more of a fool with everything you write. Trying to be somewhat polite and explain things to you hasn't worked, so I'll strongly encourage you to just shut-up and go away. You don't seem to have much grasp of some basic aspects of the internet, which I don't have the tolerance to lay out at this point.
The other morning I had a nice, long talk with a friend who started with the company over forty years ago. He's perhaps the most senior and well-respected driver we have, just an amazing and truly decent and kind human being. He was telling me about how happy he was that so many of the racist, ignorant idiots had been given the boot.
He was talking about you. Not you specifically, of course, but drivers like you.
I gave you an opportunity to email me and get to know me, with an indication that I'd be happy to talk to you and let you know who I am. You didn't take that opportunity, instead choosing to threaten me and continue to yap anonymously about your paranoid fears and bigoted opinions. So you don't know who I am.
Keep that in mind: I may not know who you are (and I don't want to, at this point), but you don't know who I am, either. And as the past month has made clearer to me, who I am is one of the most respected and well-liked night drivers in the company. You can bitch and moan all you want about the "blacks" and the "Mexicans" and the food that gets puts on your table, but the fact of the matter is that you're a dinosaur, and I'm homo sapiens.
Like the guy whose picture you were upset was up here. He's not with the company any more. Another fat, paranoid, racist idiot that we got rid of. It's odd how the massive uptick in our business over the last couple of years seems to have coincided with the elimination of that kind of person, and the growing prevalence of young, creative, and open-minded people like me. A strange coincidence, I'm sure.
It's too bad you hated the website so much that you seem to have read the entire thing. That must have taken hours. I'm completely serious when I say that you should instead devote your time to something that brings you some enjoyment and fulfillment. Huffing paint sounds about right.
To everyone else, I'll be back with an update on New Year's, which will feature exactly some of the weird, fucked-up tidbits that you've come to know and love - including perhaps the best example ever of why I, for one, absolutely love Mexicans.
*There's a big difference between my "anonymity," which comes with the accountability and identifiability of a website and email address, and this person's. I'd happily use my first or last name, like Michelle, but both of mine are (un)fortunately very rare.
posted by Crabbie at 6:00 AM
2 Comments:
Oh my!
This from the "moron" concerned with company PR...
I mad NO threat to you; vague baseless or otherwise.
I did however send your blog to the company PR manager(and did this before you removed any links or remarks), as I felt it may be of interest.
While most of your rantings no doubt will be dismissed as those coming from an inconsiderate thoughtless punk, the lack of respect for the privacy of customers should be curbed.
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