I look forward to Lyft. It seems to fit my personality better. Do I think I'll actually make more with Lyft? No. Lyft has a history of causing Uber to race them to the bottom of the rate bucket.

Oh - and I meant to say "Some" people are proud not to tip. I probably rake in a meager $5 a night in tips. Most are oblivious.

The thing is, many who don't tip feel that way back when they set their UberTaxi tip, covered all of Uber. People actually state "Tip is included, right?" or "Tip is taken care of, right?" It gets awkward when I have to say "No. It's not necessary, but tip isn't included. Uber is supposed to be a seamless transaction, but it doesn't accommodate gratuities."

Worse - when someone is about to tip, their co-rider says "Hey - you don't have to do that - it's included."

The big lawsuit in California and Boston (?) partly referred to the fact that Uber used to actually say that Tipping was included, though it never existed for non-Taxi. They've long ago since changed that nomenclature on their website, and I argue with drivers all the time who say that Uber is still telling pax that. They aren't.

This is a gig for me. I'm a fairly well educated engineer. I do it because I enjoy the social education I get from driving. Unfortunately, there are many who do this full time, and they get hurt the most.

As for the relaxed relationship between Driver and Rider, it's pretty much spread to Uber that way. Half my riders get in up front. Others get in the back. Sometimes when there are three, they split, sometimes all three squish in the back.