Who’s your Uber driver on the phone to? Welcome to the long, long diaspora phone call

For those employed in arduous solitary work such as cab driving, a marathon phone call is the perfect place to navigate the dislocations of immigrant life

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The question of the week is: who are Uber drivers always talking to on the phone?" It's one that regularly surfaces on Reddit threads and social media and even, on a couple of occasions, in the office. It's not my question (I know who they are talking to), but I think the fact that many people are so baffled by it tells us a lot about the separate worlds we occupy.

When you get a cab on a ride-hailing app, the chances that your driver will be on the phone is high. The conversation is almost always quiet, containing pauses so long that it often seems they are actually no longer on a call. But then comes a rejoinder, a laugh, an interjection, and the marathon continues.