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So you graduated from a Boston-area college...do you admit it your pax studying there?

194 views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  bobby747  
#1 · (Edited)
Or to faculty?

Obviously, rideshare driving has a major stigma among some or many people.

Yet, admittedly, a college student or alum likely wouldn't want their driver to announce to pax and the general public that he or she is a grad of that college. Doesn't look good for the institution when a student is paying tens of thousands of dollars per year in tuition and room and board, yet a grad needs to drive rideshare or maybe any low-level job. Even if driving a luxury car and owning a home -- whether part-time or full-time, for whatever reasons.

Am I being silly? Elitist?

I simply don't admit I'm a grad, from long, long ago, of a local college when I'm driving students, parents or faculty affiliated with that institution.

Most here and elsewhere might bark: "I don't give a bleep what my pax or anyone else thinks of me and my job or career!"

Well...I do care. Especially so as not to taint the image of the college.

And likewise when I drove a cab for years, I was sensitive to criticism from riders, and society in general.

I had a white Boston College male years ago in my cab declare that taxi driving is a job for "n people." I didn't even call him out on that word. Maybe I should have? Most decent people would...especially nowadays? He declare he was going to graduate BC and "be somebody!" Quite impressed with his white privilege, I guess.

A young male taxi pax years ago, a student or alum from my college, demanded to know why I'm driving a taxi as an alum, especially full-time and for so many years.

And a middle-aged white female taxi pax years ago declared: "You sound like you're from Southie!" I am not. Yes, she implied I'm from the projects there and don't sound educated. When I mentioned I have a BA in economics from a good but not great school, she updated with:

"Oh...oh...so you are smart!"

I could never say that anyone, that they sound like from a certain class of area. Can't people filter their thoughts as an adult?

Yes, Boston is elitist, in a positive and negative way...waaay more than most American cities. We tend to look down on most cities in America. Riiiight?

(I'm a white male, 1st generation, born in America, though I didn't grow up in New England, but am very happy and very lucky to be here.)

I, and some or many, local or not, believe folks in parts of Boston and parts of New England are elitist, and I guess with good reason, as it has the best or near-best of everything in many categories. But sometimes judging people who've graduated college, yet need to do inferior jobs like rideshare or taxi driving later in life, whether full-time or part-time, seems a bit excessive in the Boston area and a few other parts of the country. I guess I am guilty at times.

Or do some on this site proudly proclaim they're a college grad to those students and fellow alums in your car, the reputation of your college be damned?
 
#2 · (Edited)
I'm not from Boston but I drive in a college town and I tell my pax I got engineering degrees from the local university but only of course if it comes up naturally in conversation.
Obviously, rideshare driving has a major stigma among some or many people.
Mostly overblown by people on these boards. Of course, there are some true elitist pricks who might feel that way, and I don't want to associate with them anyways so if they self-select not to engage with me because I am too low class for them, all the better.

Yet, admittedly, a college student or alum likely wouldn't want their driver to announce to pax and the general public that he or she is a grad of that college. Doesn't look good for the institution when a student is paying tens of thousands of dollars per year in tuition and room and board, yet a grad needs to drive rideshare or maybe any low-level job. Even if driving a luxury car and owning a home -- whether part-time or full-time, for whatever reasons.
When I tell engineering students that I graduated engineering from the same college eons ago and never got a real job in field it does terrify some students. But I can give them advice on things I did wrong in my college and post-college years that helped put me in my position of failure and this is solid advice for these graduates and they usually are grateful to hear it. My #1 advice for them is not to skip an internship to graduate early. That's a sure way to be unemployed when you graduate, and for a lot longer than an internship might delay your graduation most likely.

Some of the successful alumni snub their nose down at me, and sometimes I feel a little awkward picking up a former classmate, or worse, student of mine from when I was a teaching assistant, who is now making six figures. They seem to have zero empathy or understanding generally, and start asking stupid questions like "Why did you decide you didn't want to be an engineer? lol, like I decided I wanted to be poor for fun.

And then sometimes I pick people up who also tell me their degree didn't pan out success for them. The lie about the golden ticket that for some reason people don't want to talk about.
Or to faculty?
And if they're faculty, I especially like to tell them I got a degree there. I like it if it makes them uncomfortable. They're either ignorant of the lack of value of what they peddle, or they know it and mislead students. Or maybe they have that magic connection in their pocket that will land me a six figure job tomorrow and they've just been waiting to hear about their former student's struggles for all these years!



Well...I do care. Especially so as not to taint the image of the college.
Why do you care about their image? Do they care about you? No. They used you for the tuition money.

I had a white Boston College male years ago in my cab declare that taxi driving is a job for "n people." I didn't even call him out on that word. Maybe I should have?

Most decent people would...especially nowadays? He declare he was going to graduate BC and "be somebody!" Quite impressed with his white privilege, I guess.
Driving taxi, ya you probably should have. Driving Uber, probably not if you don't want a false drunken driving complaint lodged against you that takes you off the app for the next 3 days and counts as one of your lifetime 3 strikes.

And a middle-aged white female taxi pax years ago declared: "You sound like you're from Southie!" I am not. Yes, she implied I'm from the projects there and don't sound educated. When I mentioned I have a BA in economics from a good but not great school, she updated with:

"Oh...oh...so you are smart!"

I could never say that anyone, that they sound like from a certain class of area. Can't people filter their thoughts as an adult?
Fact is, a degree is a pretty poor indicator of intelligence. It says more that you had the luxury to not have to support your family members financially for four or more consecutive years than anything else. It only requires a slightly below average intelligence to get a degree. So I guess it might show that you aren't among the least intelligent humans, but it doesn't really in my opinion prove a particular giftedness. And now that 40+% of the population has a degree, and it will probably reach 60+% in my lifetime, how could it possibly indicate any kind of elite intelligence?

(I'm a white male, 1st generation, born in America, though I didn't grow up in New England, but am very happy and very lucky to be here.)
Sorry, but industry is already over-crowded with white males. Despite the Trump rhetoric about getting rid of affirmative action, the fact is that diversity is still king in industry. Look at the typical corporate environment for a big company these days. Sure there are old gray haired white guys in management, but who are the new hires, or hires from the last decade, that are the engineers, managers, environmental safety people, and other degreed roles? The folks under 40 years old in the company? The fresh college graduates especially? Probably a disproportionate number are women with names you cannot pronounce who speak with strong foreign accents, followed by men with names you cannot pronounce. If there are white males that are under 40 in those roles, the company probably had struggles with getting H1B visas approved, or the work required a security clearance, and they couldn't find an eligible diverse native-born person for the role.

Or do some on this site proudly proclaim they're a college grad to those students and fellow alums in your car, the reputation of your college be damned?
Definitely damn the reputation of the colleges, and education in general in America. College degrees are oversaturated. The colleges are full of leftwing brainwashing. The industry sells false hope to students causing a large number of people to waste their time and money.
 
#3 · (Edited)
I have a college degree from a great university in MA. I did uber for 6+ years and I never faced an instance where the pax ask me "do I have a college degree"? There is 1-2 occasions where they had asked "Are you doing this part time while going to school? I am not bothered if they ask me any questions about my college life/career.

The measurement of someone's intelligence is not always about getting college degree. Graduate students are a dime a dozen. In my book, an intelligent person is someone's who knows how to make good money and accumulate wealth from scratch; someone who can earn alot of money with the least amount of time and effort; someone who discovered the holy grail of money making strategy(such as Elon Musk, Warren Buffet, Kai Cenet, Ishowspeed, early btc adopter) etc..

Trafficat said:
Definitely damn the reputation of the colleges, and education in general in America. College degrees are oversaturated. The colleges are full of leftwing brainwashing. The industry sells false hope to students causing a large number of people to waste their time and money.
There is a deep political segregation--nothing the left does, the right will agree on; nothing the right does, the left will agree on. I recently read an article saying that only 4% of Liberal and GOP get married to each other.:ROFLMAO:This is sad.

Without college, everyone will be manual laborer, restaurant owners, and farmers.
 
#6 ·
There is a deep political segregation--nothing the left does, the right will agree on; nothing the right does, the left will agree on. I recently read an article saying that only 4% of Liberal and GOP get married to each other.:ROFLMAO:This is sad.
Considering the gender divide on politics with men more likely being conservative and women more likely liberal, I'm guessing that means that there will be a lot fewer marriages, or a lot more homosexual ones.

Image
 
#4 · (Edited)
Without college, everyone will be manual laborer, restaurant owners, and farmers.
I am doing manual labor right now with college. These days I'm spending most of my time turning a wrench because Uber doesn't pay enough.

40% of the population has college degrees but society doesn't have roles that require such education for more than maybe 20% of workers. So probably half of college graduates right now are doing something that doesn't require a degree. A microcosm to look at is the military, which has 5 enlisted soldiers to 1 commissioned officer. Being a commissioned officer requires a degree. Historically pretty much every degreed person in the military was an officer. However, the military today has probably as many or more people with degrees on the enlisted side of things as on the commissioned officer side.

And as for Farmers, Farmers are often much wealthier than the typical college graduate, and I would say the same is true for a restaurant owner. The local university here has a well respected agricultural program and the graduates are most likely farmers or work closely with farmers. Of course, most farmers traditionally didn't have a degree and in older days people got a degree to escape being a farmer. But back then, farmers were probably taught by their elders who they inherited the farm from, and due to a lack of mechanization the yields were much lower per farmer. Take a city boy today, and give him a plot of land and tell him to grow vegetables with no training, and it's probably not going to be a good harvest. On the other hand, take a city boy who is a clerk at the store, teach him to farm, and give him a plot of land and I bet he's making double to ten times the income quick.

I wouldn't mind being a farmer but I don't have the knowledge or skill, nor can I afford the land or equipment.