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Uber driver shares touching moment with grieving passenger

A young Uber driver has shared the emotional interaction he had with a grieving mother. James Bade, a 23-year-old from Sydney, shares clips from his best Uber driving moments on his TikTok, capturing honest moments with his passengers. Bade's latest video has moved his followers to tears, as he drove around an older couple who broke down in tears at the end of their journey. James captioned his video, "This job makes me cry sometimes,” as the video shows the elderly woman telling James, “You know what? Look after yourself.” Her voice broke as she said, "You're a champion." The couple then left the car, before the woman began tapping frantically on James' window as he winds it down. <div class="embed" style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none !important;"><iframe class="embedly-embed" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px; max-width: 100%; outline: none !important;" title="tiktok embed" src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2Fembed%2Fv2%2F7279295029410057480&display_name=tiktok&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2F%40jamesbadeofficial%2Fvideo%2F7279295029410057480&image=https%3A%2F%2Fp16-sign-sg.tiktokcdn.com%2Fobj%2Ftos-alisg-p-0037%2F7648b1db68b747d38845e102a8a6ef9e_1694842956%3Fx-expires%3D1695945600%26x-signature%3DCvk%252FeflE7E2aY%252Fv15VOGr7IwGr4%253D&key=59e3ae3acaa649a5a98672932445e203&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=tiktok" width="340" height="700" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div> “I lost my son last year,” she tells him through tears. “And you remind me so much of my son.” Bade unbuckles his seatbelt and hugs the woman through the window as she cries. The woman, still sobbing, holds Mr Bade for a moment, telling him to “take care”. “The world will take you wherever you want to go,” she tells him. The comments section was flooded with emotional messages, showing that the interaction obviously touched his followers. “You can tell she has so much love and nowhere for it to go,” one wrote. “Actually crying … how lovely,” said another. Another added, “This is just beautiful … you can just tell in her voice that she needed that so much.” Sadly, not every one of James' passengers are as lovely, as he recently made headlines after a rude passenger <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/travel/travel-trouble/uber-driver-shocked-by-elderly-passenger-s-intrusive-questions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">talked down to him</a> over his career choice and high school exam results. Image credits: TikTok

Caring

Uber driver shocked by elderly passenger's intrusive questions

A young Aussie Uber driver has shared the moment he was grilled by an elderly female passenger with a line of very judgemental questions. James Bade, 23, regularly uploads dash-cam footage to social media from his Uber journeys with colourful characters. In a video he posted on Wednesday, Bade picks up an elderly female passenger, who quickly begins quizzing him about his schooling and career. The woman asks Bade what his Year 12 ATAR rank was, before judging his answer. "What was your score like at the end of the year?" the woman asked. "Uhh, not great," Bade awkwardly responded. The passenger then pressed further, asking if his mark was "70? 80?", with Bade stated he got "65". "You did s***", the woman bluntly said. "Yeah, but that's okay," Bade said, to which the passenger responded, "No, it's not okay. It's s***." Bade, who appeared momentarily stunned by the woman's brash assertions about his school results, told her that he gave his final tests "a good go", with the passenger saying, "You did not." <div class="embed" style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none !important;"><iframe class="embedly-embed" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px; max-width: 100%; outline: none !important;" title="tiktok embed" src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2Fembed%2Fv2%2F7277944950711438599&display_name=tiktok&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2F%40jamesbadeofficial%2Fvideo%2F7277944950711438599&image=https%3A%2F%2Fp16-sign-sg.tiktokcdn.com%2Fobj%2Ftos-alisg-p-0037%2F65176828c7d846a09f542b7a8ccae59d_1694528612%3Fx-expires%3D1694826000%26x-signature%3DJ1LS93ofX1akA%252F3OHw4mxLNRhyI%253D&key=59e3ae3acaa649a5a98672932445e203&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=tiktok" width="340" height="700" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div> Later on in the drive, she began questioning the young man about his career aspirations. Bade mentioned that he was "doing real estate for a few years" that gave him "some opportunities" but that he was happy being an Uber driver in the meantime. "Oh, God. Well you've gotta sort of get it together," the elderly passenger said. "It is together!" the young driver hit back. "I'm always chatting to new people and they're giving me new ideas for different things." The woman responded, "No it's not, my idea is to get it together." Bade posted the interaction to his TikTok account, as the video has quickly accumulated hundreds of thousands of views. Viewers were quick to praise Bade's patience with the elderly passenger, while slamming the woman's judgement of Bade's personal life decisions and her condescending attitude. "Nothing like an elderly alcoholic telling another person to get it together," one person commented. Another wrote, "I'm so sorry you had to deal with that...she's using your services and simultaneously looking down on it. It's insane. A job is a job." "You're so patient and calm with her, I would have kicked her out. Who gives her the right to judge?" added another. Image credits: TikTok

Travel Trouble

Uber driver slammed for refusing guide dog

An Uber driver in South Australia is being slammed for refusing to let a vision impaired woman bring her guide dog in the car. Born with low vision, Ellen Fraser-Barbour relies on her guide dog Inca for safety and sight. But on Wednesday when she was trying to catch an Uber home, Ms Fraser-Barbour says she was told Inca was an unwelcome passenger. She was able to capture footage of the exchange between herself and the Uber driver. "This is an assistance dog, a guide dog," Ms Fraser-Barbour can be heard telling the driver. "No. No. No. I can't do it. Sorry," he replied. "It's an assistance dog, you can't refuse by law," Ms Fraser-Barbour added. But the driver still refused, claiming he was not obliged to accept the ride, leaving Ms Fraser-Barbour on the curb. She says the experience is one that is common for people with a disability. "I have a lot of blind friends and they all tell me about distressing experiences that they've had of being left on the curb. It's a really rampant issue," Ms Fraser-Barbour said. Since the incident she has made a report to Uber and received an apology. Ms Fraser-Barbour says it should never have happened in the first place and is now calling for stricter penalties. "For example being able to fine drivers if they refuse," Ms Fraser-Barbour said. In a statement Uber said a first offence will see a driver's account temporarily deactivated while they receive further education. A second strike could see them permanently banned from the platform. "Taking someone off the platform temporarily doesn't say zero tolerance approach. That says we'll give you another chance," Ms Fraser-Barbour said. Image: Nine News

Family & Pets

Mum drunkenly orders $6,000 Uber to Ukraine

A mother from the UK has drunkenly tried to order a very expensive Uber to Ukraine as she vowed to “help fight”. Mother-of-two Leoni Fildes was out celebrating a friend's birthday when they started discussing the ongoing conflict in Ukraine at the hands of Russia. After a few gin and tonics and some shots of sambuca, Ms Fildes – along with her military boyfriend – decided to order an Uber straight into the warzone. “My boyfriend’s in the military and we were talking about if he had to go,” Ms Fildes told <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2022/03/17/mum-got-drunk-and-ordered-4500-uber-to-ukraine-to-go-and-help-16294296/">Metro</a>. “I said, ‘If he goes, I’m going with him’.” “One too many drinks later, we were trying to get a taxi home. We said, ‘Shall we get a taxi and go help them?’” The total bill for the 2735km trip was going to set Ms Fildes back almost $6,000 (£3,300), and despite the huge cost, the Uber app attempted to process her bill almost 10 times. Thankfully, the Uber XL was cancelled due to insufficient funds in her bank account. Suspecting a fraudulent transaction attempt, the next morning Ms Fildes woke up to a call from her bank, who asked if her credit card had been stolen. “Uber tried to take the payment nine times out of my account. They were pretty determined,” she told the Manchester Evening News. “I had a little flashback when the bank called — and I said, ‘I think it was me - sorry’.” Ms Fildes said that her account was only a few pounds short from the trip going ahead, and despite her good intentions was still thankful it was cancelled. Image credits: Uber / Facebook

International Travel

Australia’s most polite city has been named

If you’ve ever wondered where the polite people of Australia live, ridesharing behemoth Uber has your answer: they’re on the country’s east coast, in Newcastle. According to <a href="https://travel.nine.com.au/latest/newcastle-revealed-as-most-polite-city-in-australia/f66741f6-f36c-44f1-9233-e62e3e0ab1d9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new data</a> on the average ratings Uber riders leave for their drivers, Newcastle had an average rating of 4.9 out of a maximum score of five - the highest in the country - which makes it the most polite city. Coming in just behind, the tropical city of Cairns scored an average rating of 4.89 and tied with Wollongong. The Gold Coast followed in fourth place with a score of 4.88, nosing out the Sunshine Coast’s score of 4.87. Sixth and seventh place were taken out by cities on opposite sides of the country, with Darwin and Hobart earning a score of 4.86 and 4.87 respectively. Though Sydney failed to make the top five, it did make it into the top ten, tying with Launceston and Geelong with a rating of 4.84. Adelaide came next, followed by Canberra and Brisbane with an equal rating of 4.82. The second lowest rating came from Melbourne, with a rating of 4.80. Rounding out the bottom of the list - making it the least polite city in the country - was Perth, with an average rating of 4.79. The release of the new data marks the <a href="https://www.uber.com/en-AU/newsroom/rider-ratings-breakdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">launch</a> of Uber’s new Privacy Centre, which also allows users to see a breakdown of their scores as drivers and riders. Image: @city.newcastle.au (Instagram)

Domestic Travel

Date sends woman home for not liking her outfit

While most people have a dating disaster story, Nikki Harding’s could rival the very best, as her evening ended alone and in tears. Nikki had been getting to know a guy she was interested in for three weeks, and ignored a few red flags she noticed during their initial meeting. Ignoring her gut instinct, Nikki chose to give her new man the benefit of the doubt. However, when the two had scheduled a date together, Nikki was left feeling heartbroken and humiliated. The two had planned to go to a work event for the man’s retail company, and Nikki was excited to meet his friends and colleagues. Nikki showed up looking glamorous and chic in a black long-sleeved crop top, pink trousers and her hair and makeup styled accordingly. However, when she arrived at the event, her date “was too embarrassed” and sent Nikki home in an Uber. Taking to TikTok to explain her ordeal, she wrote, “It’s been 3 weeks. I spent 40 minutes on my makeup to meet his friends and coworkers at a grand opening for the retail company he works for.” “He was too embarrassed to be seen with me in this outfit, so he sent me home in an Uber and went to the opening without me.” Nikki shared the details of her fleeting relationship with her online followers, as she admitted it was not the first time the man had commented on her appearance. She said, “It all started with little comments here and there over the past couple of weeks like “Why are you wearing heels? I like it when you wear tennis shoes. Why are you wearing so much makeup? I really like it when you’re natural.” After sharing the details, her followers were quick to give her relationship advice. One person commented, “ “Remember: This is him in the beginning. This is him on his best behaviour. Run.” Many others told Nikki she deserved a lot better, and described it as “a blessing” that she got out of the relationship early, to which Nikki responded, “I deserve better than this.” Since the nightmare date, Nikki has made sure to dress exactly how she wants to. Image credits: TikTok @nikki.jabs

Beauty & Style

A passenger has shared a unique note that a deaf Uber driver had placed in his car. Read the thoughtful message here.

Musicians draw inspiration from all sorts of sources – people, experiences, events – but some of our favourite songs of all time are inspired by beautiful (and not so beautiful) places around the world. From “Mr. Blue Sky” by Electric Light Orchestra to “Castle on the Hill” by Ed Sheeran, join us as we tour the globe to see the incredible locations that led to some of the greatest songs ever made. Scroll through the gallery above to see them all and tell us in the comments, how many have you visited?

Music

Deaf Uber driver’s note goes viral

A note from a deaf Uber driver has gone viral after being posted to Twitter last week. Twitter user @lilghostgirl noticed the helpful note from the driver, Onur, explaining that his hearing impairment doesn’t impact his ability to do his job The note explains that if the passenger needs to tell him something they can either text or write it down on a notepad when the car stops. Onur also encourages his passengers to use the AUX cord in his note if they wish to listen to music during their ride. He says that if his passenger picks a song with a strong bass, then he can also enjoy the music. The kind note gained a lot of attention online, with users complimenting Onur for his excellent customer service. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> THIS WAS THE PUREST THING WE LOVE ONUR <a href="https://t.co/YkWCXjQYAt">pic.twitter.com/YkWCXjQYAt</a> — lil ghost girl (@Iilghostgirl) <a href="https://twitter.com/Iilghostgirl/status/986353146673983489?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 17, 2018</a></blockquote> “Onur you are a good man, I wish you all the best in life,” one user wrote. “He’s a breath of fresh air,” another noted. One added, “This is the greatest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Technology

Car industry about to be revolutionised

Kent Kwan is co-founder of AtlasTrend. With 15 years of professional experience in investing and international financial markets, Kent has successfully managed more than $1 billion in funds invested in international-listed shares. What is Uber up to? Uber (the ride sharing service) has been in the press repeatedly over the last few years as it battled the taxi industry in Australia and overseas. In many instances, Uber won hands down and completely disrupted that industry. Believe it or not, beating the taxi industry is just a small win within Uber’s grand plans. What do we mean by this? It is becoming clearer by the day that Uber wants to completely change the way cars are used. The company’s CEO, Travis Kalanick, has been quoted as saying Uber’s ultimate vision is: “Smarter transportation with fewer cars and greater access” Sounds innocent enough but this simple mission has the potential to revolutionise the entire car industry. There is no better proof of this than the recent revelation that Uber and Mercedes will be working very closely together. What is happening with Mercedes and Uber? Daimler (the parent company of Mercedes) and Uber recently announced plans to introduce and operate self-driving Mercedes cars on Uber’s ridesharing network in the coming years. Mercedes becomes the first car manufacturer to have this agreement. No specific timetable has been released but given the rapid pace of improvement in Mercedes’ self-driving technology, the future is not too far off when your Uber might be a driverless Mercedes. The only thing that might prevent this from happening in the next few years is government legislation on autonomous cars but we are already seeing rapid legislative progress in a growing number of countries around the world. Why are they starting this partnership? To answer this question, let’s first understand how inefficient cars are. We are not talking about fuel efficiency. We are referring to how often cars are used. In a developed market like the US, statistics show that on average cars are only used 5 per cent of the time. For 95 per cent of each day, cars are unused and simply parked somewhere. That makes cars one of the most underutilised but widely owned assets on earth. Remember Uber’s vision of “smarter transportation with fewer cars and greater access”. The underutilisation of cars around the world is exactly what Uber’s ridesharing service is trying to solve. Imagine a world where instead of owning your car, there are fleets of self-driving Mercedes cars that operate nearly 24 hours a day rather than being parked for 95 per cent of the time. You order a car which arrives in minutes from your Uber app whenever you want, to take you wherever you want. All of this, for perhaps less cost and hassle compared to owning your own car. How is this a perfect love affair between Uber and Mercedes? Uber is on record saying it doesn’t want to build its own self-driving cars. Mercedes, with its technological leadership in autonomous vehicles provides a perfect fit. For Uber, an autonomous vehicle means no need to share any more revenues with a human driver. From Mercedes’ perspective, it knows the combination of ridesharing services such as Uber and self-driving cars will lead to one natural outcome. Less people will buy their own cars. That is why it makes perfect sense for Mercedes to operate in the autonomous car-sharing industry since it may eventually cannibalise its traditional car manufacturing business in the long term. What might the investment return be from investing in Uber or Mercedes right now? To find out, <a href="https://www.atlastrend.com/register/?group=oversixty" target="_blank">sign up with AtlasTrend for free</a>. As a member, simply <a href="https://www.atlastrend.com/login/?next=/member/investing-ideas-and-info/how-you-can-profit-mercedes-and-ubers-love-affair/" target="_blank">Click Here</a> to access the full article. Any advice contained in this communication is general advice only. None of the information provided is, or should be considered to be, personal financial advice. Related links: <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/finance/money-banking/2017/02/more-secrets-of-worlds-most-money-savvy-senior/%20">6 more secrets of the world’s most money savvy senior</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/finance/money-banking/2017/02/ways-to-cut-your-grocery-spend-in-half/%20">8 ways to cut your grocery spend in half</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/finance/money-banking/2017/01/best-saving-tips-for-seniors-in-2017/">Best saving tips for seniors in 2017</a>

Money & Banking

This grandma is driving young women home safely

A grandmother's door-to-door “chauffeur” service to keep young women safe is going viral. In the past seven months, Kathy Raydings, from Brisbane, Australia, has driven more than 5,000 young women across the area home safely. Driven by her maternal instinct to get “as many home safe as possible”, Ms Raydings decided something needed to be done to help young people get home at night. She started a service that has now been called “Grandma Uber”, named after the ride-sharing service Uber. “There are horrendous stories, I've heard it so many times from my riders,” she told 7 News. “They should be able to go out, have their great night out and not have the stress about coming home and who's going to pick them up.” Amy O’Farrell, a passenger of Ms Raydings, decided to spread the word about “Grandma Uber” on social media, which quickly went viral. “It's fun and it's nurturing and she helps you with your life," she said. Grandma Uber will not only help get dozens of young people home safely, she also supplies drinks and baked brownies to her passengers so nobody goes home hungry. What an incredible woman! Would you like to be an Uber granny? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below. Find more information about Grandma Uber on her <a href="https://www.instagram.com/grandma_uber/" target="_blank">Instagram</a>. Related links: <a href="/lifestyle/family-pets/2015/12/life-lessons-from-grandparents/">Top 10 life lessons kids learn from grandparents</a> <a href="/lifestyle/family-pets/2015/10/quotes-about-siblings/">9 heart-warming quotes about siblings</a> <a href="/lifestyle/family-pets/2015/10/role-of-grandparents/">The 10 “types” of grandparents</a>

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