In which Lyft's Twitter account inadvertently illuminates our dystopian future
The year is 2085. Ordinary Americans are so eco**mically pressed that they must commute some three hours to work as independent contractor chauffeurs for companies that do **t provide basic benefits. **t even those easing the driver's burden of staying overnight in cheap boarding houses before traveling back to their homelands with what profits they manage to muster. The companies, meanwhile, consider this "very cool!"
This real-life parable begins with Cyrus Farivar, aneditor at Ars Technica, prolific Twitter user and Lyft passenger. While on a Lyft ride Friday, Farivar tweeted that his current driver commutes from Fres** to the Bay Area, a trip that takes about three hours by car, ostensibly to drive in a place with more potential passengers. This particular time, Fariver tweeted, his driver was even staying overnight in a hostel — which, as any backpacker k**ws, isn't exactly some cushy corporate accommodation.* Read more...