Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I am an Uber survivor

medium.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

371–380 of 841 posts

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#371

Post by ryandrake »

memmcgee wrote: post #362
jastingo wrote: post #257

I'm not in the business of defending Uber - quite the contrary - but reading through the comments it seems that most people are assuming that this post by an anonymous person is 100% true. These types of posts are worrying to me. Why could this post not have been crafted by someone at Lyft? Or one of Uber's many other detractors? Given the PR nightmare that Uber is in why not pile on while the public seems primed for…

Fowler's post established that this was happening to many women in the company. If we accept that Fowler is a credible witness, which I think is a fair assessment, we already know that this is a systemic problem. It's safe to assume then that if more women come forward, they are more likely to be telling the truth than not. Additionally, it's in Lyft's or other detractors best interests not to fake additional claims.…

Let's assume I am an internet troll. What stops me from anonymously signing up for Medium and publishing a similar story, now that there are two out there that corroborate?

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#372

Post by djsumdog »

ryandrake wrote: post #234
user5994461 wrote: post #84

> It was normal for me to get to work at 7 in the morning and leave late at night with only a thirty minute break in between. Yep, sounds like a bad place to work. Just a reminder that you can change jobs after 6 months in the valley, there is really no need to put up with that or wait for evil managers to make the place hell.

It could take 6 months just to find a job, get through the recruiters, pass the whiteboard hazing, negotiate your package, and give notice. You're advocating starting your next job search your first day at the company.

I think you mean 1 ~ 2 months. In places like the Valley, Seattle, NYC .. the market is insane. You can pick up new jobs insanely fast.

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#374

Post by mememachine »

eropple wrote: post #348
mememachine wrote: post #254

>I wonder (doubt) if they've ever been abused. It's hard for someone who has been abused to come forward, let alone stand up to an abuser. If they dont stand up for themselves on any level, then they simply arent being abused i dont believe. If you cant express your own discomfort, its not anyone but your fault youre uncomfortable. This is a hard truth. (copied from my other comment in this thread) I'll give you a cl…

If one is so utterly devoid of empathy as to be unable to pick up when they are making others (caveat: unnecessarily) uncomfortable--which is to say that an uncomfortable conversation about job performance is different in kind from being a shithead sexist--then they should be nowhere near a position of authority in the first place . This victim-blaming nonsense should end, pronto.

No it shouldnt, because its not nonsense, instead youve responded to a strawman. Thats ok. Its a shame though.

To be clear, youve said a bunch of things nobody would disagree with, as though i disagree with them. Its pretty dishonest of you.

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#375

Post by kristofferR »

reledi wrote: post #134

Amy, many people believe your story. But based on the flags this story is getting, many don't, at least not yet. Is there any way you can verify the authenticity of your story without losing your anonymity to the public? For example, would Susan be able to verify you as an ex-employee?

Many people hate Uber. Maybe Amy wrote this. Maybe a taxi driver wrote this.

I have no idea, and to pretend otherwise is to fool myself in order to confirm my preconceived notions.

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#376

Post by jakobegger »

jastingo wrote: post #257

I'm not in the business of defending Uber - quite the contrary - but reading through the comments it seems that most people are assuming that this post by an anonymous person is 100% true. These types of posts are worrying to me. Why could this post not have been crafted by someone at Lyft? Or one of Uber's many other detractors? Given the PR nightmare that Uber is in why not pile on while the public seems primed for…

Everyone believes the story because it sounds plausible. It's not the first time we've heard of very bad culture at Uber, and it fits the ways they have been reported to treat their drivers, etc.

Most of the women who left Uber didn't publicly announce why they did. Now we're seeing a plausible explanation.

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#377

Post by mememachine »

xpac wrote: post #314
mememachine wrote: post #258

If its clearly abusive and discomforting, of course. But often times the problem is the "victim". I'll give you a clear example. Suppose you have a pattern of behavior around me that offends and discomforts me. If I speak out, and complain, and you continue, you are probably being abusive (although not necessarily.) On the otherhand, if I make no attempt to express my discomfort in any way (doesnt mean verbal, could…

"If I behave like an asshole, and nobody calls me an asshole, I'm actually not an asshole." Yeah, makes perfect sense.

> nobody calls me an asshole

I specifically addressed this. You didnt read my comment?

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#378

Post by mememachine »

iak8god wrote: post #324
mememachine wrote: post #258

If its clearly abusive and discomforting, of course. But often times the problem is the "victim". I'll give you a clear example. Suppose you have a pattern of behavior around me that offends and discomforts me. If I speak out, and complain, and you continue, you are probably being abusive (although not necessarily.) On the otherhand, if I make no attempt to express my discomfort in any way (doesnt mean verbal, could…

> Suppose you have a pattern of behavior around me that offends and discomforts me. If I speak out, and complain, and you continue, you are probably being abusive (although not necessarily.) On the otherhand, if I make no attempt to express my discomfort in any way (doesnt mean verbal, could be anything), then the fault lies with ME, the supposed victim. Bullshit. This kind of criticism might occasionally apply when…

>Personally, the uber story absolutely did not read that way. The issue is with people in these comments making overly broad claims.

From my comment. Again, I specifically addressed this. Did you read my comment?

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#379

Post by enraged_camel »

TorKlingberg wrote: post #335
Arizhel wrote: post #290

>Besides, men outnumber women in tech by a very large margin. It's on our shoulders to help women fight back. Strength in numbers is a thing, and having men who speak up on their own, and who support and reinforce women who come forward can only a be a good thing. Yes, but the problem is that most men in tech these days are "brogrammers" who approve of this behavior and engage in it themselves. Tech is no longer the…

I really don't think misogyny or harassment is connected to nerdy-ness or introversion/extroversion, in either direction. The methods probably very, but I don't think any personality type is free of the proverbial bad eggs.

>>I really don't think misogyny or harassment is connected to nerdy-ness or introversion/extroversion, in either direction.

When was the last time you witnessed an introverted/nerdy person proposition a coworker, or even a female friend, for sex? Or even a date?

Introverts by definition aren't socially aggressive. They also tend to not hang out with socially aggressive people, from whom they could learn such attitudes.

Re: I am an Uber survivor

#380

Post by cyberpunk »

jimmywanger wrote: post #347
cyberpunk wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've not accepted it as genuine at all; I'm saying that regardless of if it's real or not, the point here is that if it was it wouldn't surprise us.. I'd really really like it if we could get to the point where if stories like this came out for any company, we would be more surprised by them.. As for the illegitimate power (I'm not even sure what that is...) and propagandists comments; I don't really see how this fit…

> As a general trend in tech that I've certainly experienced What do you mean by that? Do you mean you've experienced an upswing in these incidents, or an upswing in the number of news stories about these sorts of incidents? There are numerous incidents where broad media coverage of unsubstantiated claims cause public outrage over exaggerated incidents. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons_controver…

Perhaps trend was the wrong word. I simply meant that for all the female employees and coworkers I've had over the last few years, almost all of them have confided a story such as this to me when we discuss women in tech.

Now, maybe that's part of life. I'm sure most of the males I've worked with have a story about being bullied or getting into a horrible fight with a coworker at least once, and perhaps by putting women experiencing these things into a certain category we're also part of the problem..

shrug -- I just don't like seeing people I like or am responsible for in some way getting a hard time; hopefully I won't see much more of it.

Post reply on HN