Why do some taxis slow down and tap their horn a few times alongside pedestrians?

If you walk a lot like me, you've probably have had this happen to you.  You're walking on the sidewalk minding your own business and you hear the light tap of a car horn, not a blaring "get out of the way" horn but "hey, look over here" horn and you look over to see a taxi cab.  As you probably have guessed, the driver is trying to aee if you need a taxi which is pretty retarded because if you needed a taxi, you would've flagged one down or called for one.  I notice this more in big cities like Chicago or Seattle, especially in the downtown areas.  And if you're toting a suitcase or other baggage, you'll have taxis honking all day long.
I have even started to notice this practice with ride share drivers which is against policy to solicit rides outside of the app.
For me, this is quite annoying.  It's startling for one and it's just plain annoying when I'm trying to enjoy my walk and get honked at.  For pedestrians, being honked at is viewed as fairly aggressive so it's not unusual for me to be pretty ticked off when people honk at me.  It's usually to get me out of the way even though I as a pedestrian have the right away in almost 99% of instances.  Really, unless I'm jaywalking, I have right of way!
So long rant short, if you're a taxi or ride share driver, don't honk at pederstians.  I'm guessing 99% of the time, people flip you off because as I mentioned if we wanted a taxi in the first place, we know how to get one!

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Why you shouldn't let complete strangers use your cellphone

If you own a cellphone, I'm sure it has happened at some point and depending on where you live or hangout, maybe a lot.
"Can I use your phone to call my mom...boyfriend...boss...?"
Such a simple request but should you do it?

Well, aside from the most obvious reason, the person taking your phone and bolting like the wind, there are other reasons why it's not wise to loan out your phone to complete strangers.

1.  Theft - We'll cover this again because this should be your first and foremost concern.  But it really depends on the type of phone you have.  If you have a brand new iPhone or Galaxy, you're gonna protect that phone like a newborn baby.  If you have an old flip phone or prepaid cell phone, you may be a bit more lenient on things.  Once you hand your phone over, they can turn around and run, maybe kick you in the legs to get a head start.  Maybe they'll walk a few steps away for privacy and when your distracted by something, they run off.  Theft alone should be the only reason you don't lend your phone!  With nearly everything in your life tied to email or an app, losing your phone or having or stolen is a real pain in the ass.

2.  Breakage - Maybe they or you are clumsy and drop the phone.  Do you think they'll offer to pay for it if they drop it?

3.  Callbacks - This is the most annoying side affect of letting people use your phone.  At 2 in the morning you'll get a call and you'll be thinking the worst like a family member in the hoapital and it's some angry person yelling "put Jose on the phone. He called from this number. Put his ass on the phone!"  They say they're calling their mom but you have no idea who they're really calling.  People who ask to use other people's phones generally don't have any phone number so people they call are likely to assume your number is their number.

4. Unnecessary browsing - Unless your looking squarely at the screen, you won't know if they're browsing your personal files.  There are apps can can clone your phone, upload information.  This should be fairly obvious but it just takes a moment of inattention on your part for them to get the info they want.

5.  Criminal activity - Again, you never know who they're really calling.  They could be using your phone as a burner to commit a crime.  When your number is traced, you're going to have a bad day.

Okay, so we covered why you shouldn't loan out your phone.  But maybe there are times you want to help.  If they need police or an ambulance, you can certainly call them yourself.

You could offer to let them talk on speaker phone while you hold the phone.

There are old fashioned telephone handsets that plug into the headset jack. Like the payphone handsets. You can dial the number and they can talk with the handset.

Then of course you can blatantly say no or use the old standbys.
"My battery is almost dead"
"I'm out of minutes"
"It's disconnected. I use it for music"
"I have no signal"
"I don't have a phone"

How do you deal with strangers asking to use your phone?  Please comment below!

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Visit my and subscribe to my youtube channel!

https://www.youtube.com/user/justanotherlabrat

Visit my ETSY shop!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/theTAILlor

All photos taken by Paul Clough.  

© All Rights Reserved.  Please contact for permission to use photos.