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The driver has probably learned (the hard way) that with some people, if you open the conversation, you can never close it again -- they talk on and on and on and on. I'm assuming they ask where you're going, or is that information conveyed electronically these days? I don't use Lyft, myself.
There's nothing wrong with saying "Hi, how are you?" but, again, some with a compulsive talking problem will take that as an excuse to tell you in great detail.
Sometimes that's part of the job, ask any bartender. But they do it because that's how you succeed in a business like that. Same with Uber and Lyft, people can block so they don't get you again, and can request you if they really liked you (as well as give extra tips) The most successful people can gauge what each customer wants and adjust their own behavior accordingly.
I work in nursing homes, and I can't begin to tell you how many rooms I've had to do the "just keep backing up toward the door while nodding" dance because they were droning on and on. Once at the door I will politely say I've enjoyed our chat but I have to get back to work" but I would never act disinterested or ignore them.
I get a lot of patients in therapy who want to talk the whole time. If they do, I politely listen and nod where appropriate and make the best of it. Sometimes they're nervous, sometimes they're lonely because their family hasn't been in. It's not a big deal and remaining polite regardless it is part of what made me successful and one reason why I don't have a single former employer who wouldn't welcome me back in a 20 year career.
Some people are nervous when they get in an Uber, especially women. If I got in a car and the driver just stared straight ahead in stony silence and didn't even smile and say "hi" when I got in, I would be nervous to tell the truth because that's plain creepy. And I maintain his personality is not a good fit for a job that will at times require being polite while customers drone on.
Look at the title of the thread, "ignoring" is rude. In the OP, he states he acts bored and disinterested if anyone says boo to him that isn't work-related. That is rude and chip in your shoulder stuff, that is not representative of introversion IMO.
When I stated that earlier, when several of us stated that, (not only did I NOT say people should be social at work, I even gave suggestions of simple but polite phrases OP can say to avoid being social while still being polite) we were attacked as extroverted chatty Cathy's who stay 2 hours late every night because we are yakking so much and that we resent quiet people and think they should all be social and chatty.
My own story of my own desire for solitude was ignored completely as people insisted they knew all about my chatty ways.
All for stating that my opinion that one can be quiet and still be polite.
I stand corrected then. I can not condone rudeness. A person most definitely can be quiet and polite.
I do my best to tune out coworkers and focus on my job. I always keep in mind that I'm only at work to provide a service and get paid for it. I also keep in mind that I don't really know any of my coworkers or really care about them. When people quit, get fired, or even die, deep down I couldn't care less. I'm just there for the money.
Whenever a coworker talks to me about non-work related topics, I give boring, simple responses and act disinterested.
I just don't care to socialize at work with a bunch of strangers who I don't know and don't particularly care to know.
I've worked at my present job for almost a decade, and I still feel this way about the other people in the office.
woa... ten years... well, the atmosphere in most places I've worked was a little bit warmer, in the sense that a bunch of coworkers would occasionally go out for a beer, be invited to each other parties or weddings, even baptize each other's children.
Personally I would feel lonely in such "cold" environment. I couldn't resist. I personally would become depressed. I would quit. But that's just me. Of course there were people I didn't care at all in any of the places I worked but with some I really "clicked". But, I guess it depends upon people's way of being. I am friendly, I do care about people. My boss too and so on...
I really dislike my coworker. She is beyond stupid, does work first than asks for clarification, after it is done wrong. So incompetent and has a question about every little thing, yet has been in this position for almost 2 years. She must have really BS'd her way through the interview.
Ok and? I guess if I was 14 years old I would care. How old are you ��
I think someone like you is just insecure and you can’t deal with a quiet coworker
They can't. You might make them look bad by actually....you know.....working.
Funny, I've received many raises, senior ratings/promotions, and management positions in my working career....and never once being a chatterbox or having my nose stuck in everyone's personal business been a pre-requisite for those rewards.
We introverts sure frighten a lot of workers for just being ourselves...
Just because someone is quiet doesn't mean they wouldn't like to be talked to! I don't talk with people at my work except for hi and bye. Yet, I would love for someone to ask me lots of questions and take interest in me. I feel so invisible that I imagine swearing at all the others and quitting this job. I'm too shy but that causes me emotional suffering as I don't have anyone approaching me at work.
Just because someone is quiet doesn't mean they wouldn't like to be talked to! I don't talk with people at my work except for hi and bye. Yet, I would love for someone to ask me lots of questions and take interest in me. I feel so invisible that I imagine swearing at all the others and quitting this job. I'm too shy but that causes me emotional suffering as I don't have anyone approaching me at work.
Good point. A lot of us aren't bold (or egomaniacal) enough to insert ourselves or broadcast our business, yet we would be receptive if someone showed a genuine interest. I'm an introvert who responds, but will almost never approach or initiate conversation beyond "hi" and "bye" and the usual conversational nicities.
You can have small talk with your coworkers every now and then
Doesn't mean they have to be your drinking buddy or whatever.
Because so people simply do not care or have anything in common with their coworkers. Me personally, my long term ambitions is to have a small men's accessory line that I am currently working on. My day job ais soley to pay the bills and pay for fabric, manufacturing, etc for my ties.
So I really don't care about the job or my co-workers. I have nothing in common with them. I don't listen to pop culture music or watch the same shows, which is what they talk about. They take the job too seriously because they actually want to make careers in the industry. I find the office politics annoying and pitiful.
I literally want to make my money, go home and work on my ties. In fact, when I'm not doing the tasks required to keep my job at work, I'm thinking about my ties. Not the people I work with. I'm suffering through my job until I can get out of it and work for myself, and my co-workers distract me from my long-term goals and remind me of what I don't want to be doing for the rest of my life.
Everyone has their own reasons for it. In my opinion, as long as you do the work and aren't actively rude (meaning things like not providing a desired reaction to a co-worker's private life event don't count as rudeness) I don't see the issue.
I see people mentioned that "quiet people make people uncomfortable". I've learned that in the reason in the workplace for this is because people don't know how strategize to be competitive with a quieter person. If they don't know what a person's personal motivations or feelings about certain things are, they can't use it against them. Plus, whose to say that gregarious people who wear their hearts on their sleeves don't make quieter people uncomfortable or at the least come across as disingenuous?
Because they do both to me.
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