Meeting new people is hard. And it gets even worse in carpools, when you’re stuck with your “new friends” for a few hours and things get reaaalllly awkward.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. We came up with the worst carpool scenarios and the solutions to help make them more comfortable.
Awkward Scenario #1: No one is talking.
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Solution: Find common ground by asking them about their hometown, family, places they have travelled, or favourite episode of The Big Bang Theory.
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Awkward Scenario #2: No one is answering your questions about their hometown, family, places they have travelled, or favourite episode of the The Big Bang Theory.
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Solution: Pretend you weren't ignored and just load up some music or podcast. We recommend having a variety of playlists ready for different tastes.
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Awkward Scenario #3: They say silence is golden, but not when it's because you ran out of things to talk about.
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Solution: Play some games like I Spy and 20 Questions.
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Awkward Scenario #4: OMG there is an odd smell in the air, coming from someone...
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Solution: Grab a car freshener at the next stop or better yet, bring it with you just in case and gift it to them. If these are not an option, make any excuse you can to get some fresh air.
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Awkward Scenario #5: It “suddenly” smells
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Solution: Shove your face in your scarf, sweater, sleeve, or coffee cup. Just anything to avoid it and Don’t - Say - Anything!!
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Awkward Scenario #6: Someone is talking way too much
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Solution: Know how to say “shut up” politely. If it's in your morning commute, start yawning to clue them in and slowly close your eyes. If it's your commute home after work, start yawning to clue them in and slowly close your eyes. If this is not working, just gently start to snore. If that doesn't work, pretend to wake up startled and ask if you could just nap for five minutes and rest until you get to your destination.
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Awkward Scenario #7: The driver is not very good at driving
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Solution: Your life is in danger here. Ask them politely to drive more cautiously. If in doubt, just get off at the next convenient stop.
The 4 Problems We Are Solving with Vancouver International Airport (YVR) on the Sea Island
Driving is fun. But driving to work every day, notably from across town and by yourself in traffic, can be quite difficult on the soul, the mind, and of course, the wallet. For the Sea Island's 23,000+ employees, the long solo commute presents a variety of problems and pain points. Luckily for them, YVR has recently partnered with go2gether to help mass organize various Sea Island employees into fun and efficient carpools.
Earlier this week, Airport Authority and go2gether members spent the morning out in front of the Templeton Skytrain parking lot (just outside YVR) to meet and chat with hundreds of commuters on how go2gether works. We even brought free coffee and hot chocolate!
In addition to people learning about go2gether, we learned about their four biggest commuting issues, and addressed it with the solution we provide.
Problem #1 - The Cost of Driving
Abbotsford, Delta, Port Moody, Surrey – we met people driving from all areas of the lower mainland. And what was their biggest pain point with driving solo to YVR every day? The cost of gasoline. Even these days, when the cost of gas is lower than it has been in a decade, the average cost for round-trip in a day from Surrey to YVR runs a walloping $36. See below to find out how much you pay to drive to the Airport from where you live.
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Solution: If you carpool just three days per week, you can save $216 - enough to pay your car insurance! If you carpool everyday, you can save $360 every month! This is our primary objective on the Sea Island; help employees save their hard earned money.
Problem #2 - The Lack of Community
Standing out there and explaining the benefits of carpooling, a lot of employees told us they would love to carpool, but just didn’t know anyone to do it with. Technicians, retail staff, Canada Post employees; they all have friends at work, but unfortunately those pals live in the opposite direction!
Solution: go2gether is a service made specifically for this purpose – to connect people with others on the way. Even for this day, our team members, Luc and Docky discovered each other on the go2gether platform, learning that they are only five minutes away from each other!
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Problem #3 - The Odd Schedules
YVR is a 24/7/365 environment. It is an Airport, after all. There are folks working 8 and 12-hour shifts (some with unexpected overtime), and flight attendants leaving for weeklong trips. A big roadblock to carpooling, many told us, was the diversity of the employee shifts. How could someone book a round trip carpool if the driver is flying to Tokyo in the afternoon?
Solution: We offer flexibility. With enough users on the go2gether YVR network, any employee will be able to book a trip to and from work that is convenient for their hours. If someone works into unexpected overtime, users can be matched with another trip that fits their schedule in real time.
Problem #4 - The Long, Hard Road
The only thing worse than sitting in traffic is sitting in traffic by yourself, every day, for what seems like the whole day. Quite a few employees told us that traffic is a nightmare for them, and they would much prefer some company or even the opportunity to relax and close their eyes on the way into work.
Solution: More carpools mean fewer cars on the road and much happier people driving them. In YVR’s case, happier and well-rested employees already connected arriving to work.
go2gether is a co-founding member of Share Vancouver!
"Here in Vancouver, The Sharing Project and other local sharing leaders have convened a working group that is working collectively to raise awareness and expand the capacity of sharing locally." Share Vancouver has met several time since Summer 2013 and is a community of sharers working collectively to raise awareness and expand the capacity for sharing locally.
Learn about about Share Vancouver and other sharing cities in the world: click here for more info!