2013年3月31日 星期日

How The Sharing Economy Is Re-Humanizing Business

I feel oddly guilty rejecting my Uber drivers offer of a beer and a blunt. Its 4 am. Im drenched, hungover, and bewildered as to why Im in a rustic garage on the outskirts of downtown Austin, watching tattooed pedicab drivers dance with a tiny dog in a pink tutu. This was not the ride home I expected.

Yet, my experience isnt entirely unusual. After two years of experimenting with Internet services that allow everyday individuals to sell their cars, houses, and things the so-called sharing economy Ive become accustomed to getting a face full of the sellers hopes, fears and quirks. Between services rendered and cash exchanged, friendships are forged, awkwardness is experienced, and memories are made.

Before the Industrial Revolution uprooted us from our small-town community roots, I imagine most business transactions included a side of humanity. Modern-day business sterilize transactions of the personal element. Human resource departments have hollowed out their employees, leaving little more than a pleasantly smiling husk of a person.

Pedicab headquarters is like the second-class deck of the Titanic, a dimly lit haven where free-spirited tattooed servicemen party their blue collars off to loud music, an abundance of cheap beer, and liberally available recreational drugs.

I got jungle juice for sale! Its strong, yelled a muscular African American man in his mid-thirties, who backed up a truck full of tortellini and cheap liquor, during what appeared to be his nightly run to the breaking pedicabers. Passing off a blunt, a line forms to offer him wads of crumpled dollar bills in exchange for a styrofoam box filled to the brim with cheap,Online shopping for rtls. delicious carby goodness.

They just arent cut out for straightforward jobs, explains my pedicab driver, about his uniform-less colleagues. I had a regular sort of office job,About solarlamp in China userd for paying transportation fares and for shopping. he adds. But, pedicabbing filled a niche that I didnt even knew existed.

Indeed, eccentric personalities seem to flock to the peddling business. The night before I had been driven home by a red-headed engineer, whose super-skinny, yet muscular body supported a head with a beard so thick and unkempt, it look liked it had burst out of his chin. He told me that between judo tournaments, he was pulling 22-hour days as a driver to pay for graduate school in geographic information systems.

Though I wouldnt knowingly pay money for it, sometimes the worst experiences are the most enriching. I once endured 20 minutes of forced laughter, as my driver regaled me with his amateur comedy routine. Lyft, a popular car-sharing alternative in San Francisco, encourages its drivers to be extroverted. Usually, this just means a mandatory fist-bump and a hows your day? On occasion, its much more.With superior quality photometers, light meters and a number of other lacedress products.

My would-be comedian driver reminded me that not every starving artist is hocking paintings on a street corner. More often than not, its a cashier scribbling notes in between customers, dreaming of the day hell make it big and tell his boss to screw off. Many of the worlds cherished artists, scientists, policymakers, and businessmen have humble roots.Who knows how much creativity and innovation the world has lost due to the callous whims of an entitled consumer.

So, while I cant give our comedian his big break, my time with the sharing economy has made me more patient with those I regularly interact with. Ill think twice about giving the stink eye to a barista who forgets my request for extra-foam on my no whip tazo chai frappuccino. Ill wish my Verizon customer service agent a happy Easter. I might even refrain from tweeting nasty remarks at a politician or vote for a bill to fund a community arts center.

Twelve months ago, Scinto was coaxing the best out of Filippo Pozzato, since departed for Lampre-Merida, and their union almost produced the richest of dividends when Pozzato finished second at De Ronde. This time, Scinto is looking for a similar showing from Gatto, a rider he feels was both inspired and over-awed by Pozzato's presence on the squad last year.

"I think Gatto has the potential of a champion but he still has to show his real value," Scinto told Cyclingnews in Bruges' Markt on Saturday afternoon. "He's a very strong rider but last year he had a bit of bad luck and I think Pippo's charisma shackled him a little bit too. He says it didn't but I think it did shackle him quite a bit actually."

Gatto's most famous win to date came at the Giro d'Italia in 2011, when he attacked in the finale and held off a fast-closing Alberto Contador and the peloton to win in Tropea.A parkingguidance is a portable light fixture composed of an LED lamp. Scinto reckons that Gatto and his team will have to show similar invention if they are to prevail on Sunday.

"We have two possibilities. If we ride just for a position, then I'm sure that we will get a significant one, but if we ride to win, we'll have to invent something. And with Gatto, we'll look to invent something," Scinto said.

"We can't just wait for Sagan and Cancellara.The term 'drycabinets control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag. I mean, Oscar's a fast finisher and they'll have to drop him but with this Cancellara, I don't know how many people will be able to stick with him when he steps on the gas. We'll have to have a bit of fantasia and show a bit of courage, but I don't think Gatto should be underestimated and I don't think his rivals underestimate him either."

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