Comments

1
"Classifying an entire industry of working-class people as unclean is just classist humiliation."

No. It's not "just" classist, there are racial undertones.
2
I don't quite understand your hostility to ride-sharing. Having moved from Seattle to Chicago recently, we got rid of our car and in addition to public transportation, regularly use cabs and car-sharing. We've never had any problems with Uber or UberX. In fact, at times, it's the smarter choice to go with Uber or UberX.
Should Seattle laws be updated to regulate them? Sure. But I would suggest you try them out before bashing these services.
3
Dear KIRO...

Fuck all y'all.
4
Agree with @1, it seems to a racist undertone. I've never had a problem with a cab driver's hygiene in Seattle. The Thierry Rautureau and Tom Douglas show is the only thing worth listening to on Kiro.
5
4. Get out of the commercial radio biz. Nobody listens to it except cabbies.
6
@2) I'm supporting ride-sharing services, not "bashing" them. If you follow the link in the article, I write: "I'm all about the surge in competition: The cars for hire, the limos, the car-sharing services, the ride-sharing apps. They're surging because they're better than cabs. Sure, some of the competition is probably breaking the law, but hopefully the Seattle City Council can regulate that competition into legality."

But supporting competition doesn't mean we should treat taxi drivers like shit.
7
"Dirty foreigners" has been around for as long as the US. And you're not old enough to remember the heyday of the civil rights movement, but there used to be a ton of conversation about how black people smelled funny, just constantly, obsessively.

I've been in cabs that had some personal belongings in them, coats and whatnot, but I have never had a cab driver in Seattle who smelled bad. I've only ever had drivers who were courteous and professional, working hard in a dangerous job. Sometimes their driving technique leaves a bit to be desired, but hygiene? No.

I hope these fellows' pictures get widely circulated amongst cabbies, and they go out of their way to splash them with mud on the sidewalk whenever they get a chance.
8
your cop story was on Ring my Belle last week, maybe this one will make it this week!!

or probably not
9
I've taken a few cabs in Seattle and have never encountered a problem with driver hygiene or a dirty taxi. Most of the drivers have been really polite too. This just seems like stereotyping of the worst kind.
10
#3 is my favorite suggestion.
11
Why is the headline just "KIRO" instead of "KIRO hosts" or "KIRO radio hosts"?

12
As someone who rides a bike in downtown Seattle, I've noticed that รœber drivers are a menace to our city.
13
" It's not "just" classist, there are racial undertones."

the fact that it's most often true is also a fact.

"seems to a racist undertone"

Really? Most of Uber's drivers are black (African) or Indian. By complimenting their cars and drivers, are they committing reverse, anti-racist racism...or something?
14
Cue, sheltered white liberals screaming "racism!!!!!!!!!"

So, was complimenting the Uber drivers, all from the exact same demographic as the taxi drivers, waaaaayyyycist too ladies?
15
@1 and @3 say it all.

What's a cab?
16
My only surprise, reading the headline, is that the comments didn't come from that anti-labor, anti-government, anti-people douchebag Dori Monson.
17
He must be upset that the cabs don't have campaign, heated leather seats, and a prostitute to blow you while you ride to your destination.

I've never been in a cab that outright stunk, but they are cabs. Quick cheap transport. They are not always going to be pristine.

I only ever use them to get from Downtown to Capitol Hill. If they ever get that damn light rail finished I won't even do that. I know I could use busses, but they scare my delicate suburban sensibilities and I'm not in Seattle often enough to bother learning the system.
18
It's high time that Seattle cabs are mandated by law to have card readers in the back seats. Many cities have it set up that way so that customers can run their own card.

Also: While it is a pain when Seattle cabbies whine about getting a card, I understand why they do. Since they use those old knucklebuster devices to get a card imprint, it takes days for the paperwork to go through. That's money out of their pocket in the short run.
19
"Quick cheap transport"

In Seattle, they are none of the above.
20
Fuck KIRO, but I do agree with one of their statements...

"What I think has happened to yellow is they've been able to provide a horrible service that we've been stuck with. Now there's competition out there and they don't like it."

I do think that part is true, even if it's coming from racist jerks. Yellow needs to up it's game to deal with competition, not complain that they have competition.
21
@17, you don't even have to "learn the system." Get an Orca card, put like $10 on it and set it to refill automatically, and then use the Google Maps app on your phone to tell you exactly what bus to take and where to get on and off. Boom, easy.
22

Didn't LINK replace all taxis?

23
I once took a cab that had like 20 of those rearview mirror air fresheners in it. That stunk, but certainly not in the way these assholes are suggesting.
24
Can an unwashed plebian point out the almost complete irrelevance of broadcast radio or will I be locked up in the bowels of the coliseum until tournament time?
25
@20 nailed it. Yellow and Orange cab are just pissed they have competition that's making a sizeable dent so they're doing whatever they can to try to even out the playing field... but rather than stepping up their game, they're trying to foist unnecessary regulation onto Uber (some regulation is fine... but the way cab regulation in this city works is insane and doesn't benefit anyone, least of all the consumers). They figure if they can make Uber suck as much as they do, then Uber just becomes their more expensive competitor, and everyone comes running back to the cheaper option. I hope Uber fights and wins against any regulation not strictly targeted at providing for passenger safety. They've been here for two years already, and I've never heard anyone complain... fixing what isn't broken is dumb.
26
@13, first that's not true, and even if you were correct, why would the radio hosts single out taxi drivers for showers then. Obviously, they said this as a derogatory remark about foreigners. In a related note, are cantaloupe calves now a compliment for Mexicans are far as you know?
27
My only problem with cabs is the driving safety. One of many close calls: I was in a crosswalk with the 'walk' sign on for me outside the downtown convention center and have had to DIVE out of the way of a yellow cab turning left through a red light at 40 mph. As a pedestrian or cyclist, cabs are fucking terrifying.
28
@42: Like Fox News, talk radio has a grip on the ears a very large portion of the "Working Class". I had an electrician at the house last week and he had KIRO on the whole day.

Ron and Don are professional assholes, and, like most of Seattle talk radio, including sports talkers, right-leaning know-nothings who go for the easy joke and the simple solution to any complex issue.

Rachel Bell, on the other hand, is kinda great.
29
i meant 24. dyslexia damn!
30
@7

Actually, have you been to Africa? Didn't think so. I lived there for years. The hygiene practices are very different. Deep, funky B.O. is not even noticed by the locals. It's just normal body odor. You can call it "racist" to acknowledge the difference, if you want, but the B.O. thing is actually a fact. Sounds like you're the ignorant one.
31
Sorry for the miscommunication, Dom. By "you," I meant the Slog writers generally, and not necessarily you specifically. While some stories on the Slog have pointed out how well these ride-share programs work, the overall tone comes across as hostile to this new development, including bolding quotes by Sawant and O'Brien (who you, the SECB, endorsed) that are anti-ride-share.
From my discussions with UBERX drivers, the majority are current and former taxi drivers (including from East Africa) that enjoy the freedom and extra money that they get by working as freelancers.
You're right to call out KIRO, but what do you expect from them? But you should also call out O'Brien and Sawant for being so anti-progressive (on this issue, at least).
32
Whoever those people are who have a radio platform to spew out hateful, useless comments and insult others, they would better serve the community by making an apology. Their comments were truly disgusting and uncalled for.

Speaking about the credit card issue; since each cab is an independent business, every time a credit card is used it is mostly processed by the dispatch companies who charge a hefty processing fee. Some drivers are using square to control that cost. But they are no different than any other merchant. In my dry cleaner there is a sign telling me that they won't accept debit or credit cards for purchases less than $10.00.

These drivers are not scared of competition, but they are regulated more stringently than any of the other services. They are simply asking for the existing rules and regulations to be enforced.
33
While the bathing comments were stupid, taxi companies need to stop relying on a mid-twentieth century business model, and complaining about others using modern technology to provide better service.
34
The existing rules and regulations are in dire need of an overhaul, anyway. It's the most convoluted system in the universe... and did you know that there're only three enforcement officers for taxi regulations in all of King County? New York's got 250. We have three. We're smaller, but not by two orders of magnitude. Three different organizations (the City, the County, and the State vis-a-vis the Port District) regulate cabs in King County. There's a reason Uber doesn't want to play that game... it's a big part of why cabs suck. Simplify the rules, codify specifically for these new technologies, and then let them compete on *that* fair playing field, instead of insisting everyone be reduced to the lowest common denominator.
35
@30, what part of my comment suggested "Africa" to you?
36
Add me to the mass of folks who have never had an issue with a cabby's hygiene, personal or otherwise. Never had them take issue with a card either. Imagine that.
37
@35

Have you talked to cab drivers about their ethnicity? I always do. It's interesting to me 'coz, ya know, I've lived elsewhere besides Seattle. Lots of them are Africans so we have lots to talk about. They seem to appreciate conversing with someone who's done more than read about the places where they're from.
38
Good job at giving Ron an Don extra press.
39
Besides, Letterman has been making jokes for years about smelly cabbies and no one says shit. Two local jocks rip off an old joke; if anything, the fuck you should be directed at their lack of imagination. B t dubs, everything else they said about cabs echoes my sentiments exactly.
40
@37: I'll let the U.N. know they have a live one for ambassadorship. Nothing says cultural diplomacy like the assumption of foreign B.O. and domestic condescension.
41
I'm not so sure this is a racial/xenophobic comment, if it was why would they be contrasting with Uber? Uber drivers are, like most cab drivers, for the most part non-white and foreign-born.
42
@37: Okay, to summarize: Africans in Africa stink, therefore Fnarf is "the ignorant one" for observing that Seattle cab drivers don't stink. Because if he troubled himself to interrogate them about their ethnic backgrounds he would learn that many are in fact African, and therefore stink. And we should all travel as much as you have instead of reading.
43
@30,

Actually, I've had friends who visited France and said the exact same thing -- that people don't wear deodorant and smell to high heaven, so it's not just the country of "Africa".
44
@41 It seems to be common to allow for the exception within racist world views.

Sundown towns would often have the one black resident or family that was okay because they were not like all them others.

Sometimes it would simply be some redeeming quality, such as exceptional loyalty, that would elevate the merely okay from the unacceptable masses, without going so far as to make them equal or fully acceptable.

You don't have to accept that there are racial undertones to the comment, but don't assume that just because the Uber drivers are up in the main house, that they are guests.
46
@30 I have actually been to middle Africa, I've lived in Niger for one month in summer, in the hospitality of a local family, and I met plenty of people on the streets, and it never happened to me to smell any whiff of body odor.

Except when visiting the Great Mosque of Niamey outside hours of attendance (well, more like taking a short look inside from the doorsteps, being both of the heathen and female persuasion), where the room for the males' ritual cleaning ranked of piss. That's organized religion for you.

@43 In France, most people do wear deodorant, and they have no discernible body odor, except when it gets really hot. Remember that there is no widespread air conditionning here, so when it's hot it's hot everywhere, and deodorants that work fine in the US under AC environment (far too energy consumming to be sustainable, by the way) are not always up to par here.

There is, though, a big minority that does smell heavily, and of course there's always lone individuals stinking to high heaven in every society (Sarah Palin is rumored to rank).

The main bunch of smell offenders are adult males who think that using deodorant is unmanly, and that their BO and their halitosis are just secondary testoterone effect, deal with it. They're often very proud with their smelling, just like some Americans seem to be very proud with their farting or belching abilities. It's a bother, but since the fact that they put their man card in their odour, means that they don't feel the need to buy guns and kill people, there's that to it.

Then there's the male teenagers, who somehow become allergic to washing at that age.

It's less well accepted for a woman to smell, so most of us do take pains in re-applying deodorant during the days. But although a smelly person will never be publically admonished for it, it doesn't mean that she won't be avoided in social circles.
47
Problems I have had with cab drivers in Seattle.

1. Perfume, incense, aftershave etc. - I've never noticed a cab driver's B.O., but I've had some pretty severe allergy attacks due to the artificial fragrances.

2. There have been a few ocasions where a taxi driver has taken me to the wrong address - or has taken a ridiculously long route to get there, and then pretended not to understand me when I complained about paying the extra fare.

3. Dispatchers being assholes if I called to confirm that the taxi was indeed on it's way. I had been waiting an hour in the rain for what was supposed to take 10 minutes. Don't get bitchy at me because your driver isn't here!


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