It’s easy to be overwhelmed with all the hustle and bustle of daily life, especially for modern parents who are juggling ten, fifteen things all at once. Anything that gives parents respite, however small or insignificant, is welcome.
And so to make life a little easier, more and more parents are resorting to Uber for the transportation of their kids to and from school.
For the uninitiated, Uber is a transportation app that allows its users to book a personal ride which will then chauffeur them to their destination. The efficiency with which the service operates makes it a lifesaver for anyone who wants an easy, stress free mode of transportation.
Debbie Landa is one of the parents who has turned to Uber to lighten the burden of parenthood.
Running her own business in Alexandria, Vancouver, her life is already hectic as it is, and after years of taking her son Sam across town during rush hour five days a week to attend ballet class, Debbie had a breakdown.
Now she lets Sam use Uber once a week, and it has since been a tremendous help.
“And we get to have dinner at a decent hour with our older son for once,” she said in a Washington Post report.
A chief executive of another app-based transportation service, Nick Allen said he wasn’t surprised at this turn of events.
“Parents are busier than ever these days,” he said. “Both moms and dads are working, kids have activities all over town, and parents can’t be in two places at once. This is giving kids independence and parents breathing room to have a better quality of life.”
But Uber has its own share of criticisms.
Because anyone who can drive a car can sign up to be an Uber driver, its legality and safety has been questioned by governments all over the world.
Dave Sutton, spokesman for the Rockville-based Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association, said: "Obviously, everybody loves their kids, but the idea of placing a young person with someone who hasn’t received a criminal background check is terrifying.”
Uber has also received numerous complaints about rowdy and mean drivers, and the number of these complaints continue to rise.
At the end of the day, parents have to get things done, and it’s up to them to decide whichever course of action that they see fit to accomplish these things—as long as the safety of their family is top priority, of course.
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