Fred likes to talk to people. As an Uber driver, the 82-year-old Seattle native gets to do plenty of talking — if his riders are up for a little conversation.
“When a person gets in there, if they immediately go to their phone, I just keep my mouth shut,” Fred says in a new video provided by the ride-hailing company. “But if they want to converse, man, I’m there like a pig.”
Uber is calling out Fred and driver/partners like him in recognition of National Compliment Day — which is today in case you’ve yet to say something nice to someone. The company is paying attention to the nice things that customers have to say — through the app — about the people who work for Uber.
“Drivers do more than move people from one place to another — they brighten riders’ days in ways big and small,” Uber says on its website. “Since launching in-app compliments in 2016 and tipping in 2017, riders have shown their gratitude millions of times to drivers for the great service and memorable experiences they deliver every day.”
Fred’s early career as an entertainment director for a cruise line and later at a casino in Las Vegas led to a celebrity friendship and surprise reunion in the video.
He says that the luckiest thing that happened to him was when his daughter came along and said, “Dad, why don’t you Uber?”
Uber shared some of the compliments Fred has received from riders. It sounds like we’d all be lucky to have him pull up at the curb someday:
- “What can I say? The world needs more people like Fred. Just an incredibly genuine kind hearted human whose purpose has been to put others first. They don’t make em like that anymore! Thanks Fred.”
- “One of the most friendly people I have ever met. Not just as an Uber driver but as a person.”
- “Fred is a terrific guy. A person could learn a lot about life just chatting with him.”
And here are some more stats shared by Uber when it comes to the 35.8 million compliments given to drivers in 2017:
- Riders in New Orleans and Las Vegas said they had the most entertaining drivers.
- Riders in Nashville and Charleston complimented their drivers the most for great conversations.
- College towns in Upstate New York complimented their drivers the most for being late night heroes.
- When it came to great amenities, riders in Portland complimented their drivers the most.
- The city that complimented their drivers the most overall was La Crosse, Wisc.
