7 ms·

A few years ago, I was in NY for a conference in Manhattan but had switched to a hotel in Jersey for a few days to see a friend. Once I switched back to Times

A few years ago, I was in NY for a conference in Manhattan but had switched to a hotel in Jersey for a few days to see a friend. Once I switched back to Times Square, as I was getting dressed for a Broadway show it hit me: I had left all of my dress shirts in the Jersey hotel. Long story short, I request an uber in the middle of NY rush hour saying that I was at the Jersey hotel. After a minute, I called the driver and explained the situation. He was happy to help and the hotel front desk had the shirts waiting when he arrived. He took them to the resteraunt that I was eating at on Broadway and much to my shock, the hour long process had only cost me $21. Needless to say I tipped the driver with cash. I remember thinking: This is going to be a thing VERY soon.

fezz 11y ago
This happens in LA already a fair amount in my experience. It's perfect for many productions where instead of picking up gear across town and sending a PA back and forth. The only down side is the repeatability and consistency that is valuable with using the same people who know where exactly to go and how to navigate the sometimes odd places.
Laaw 11y ago
Conversely: "Hey Uber driver? I need you to pick up a duffel bag located at Cicero and X, under the bridge. Do NOT look in the bag. You will be tipped an extra $500 in cash if you obey these instructions."
- toomuchtodo 11y ago
  Take it further. Is a lock Pelican case suspicious? I've used them constantly to ship technology equipment worth tens of thousands of dollars. Now what if I'm moving coke around in them, with Uber drivers doing the deliveries. Who is going to question locked gear with a bunch of mundane shipping stickers on the outside? Interesting times!
  - Spooky23 11y ago
    This is already a thing. A guy down the block from me was receiving a few pounds of weed through the mail every week for several months.
  - MichaelGG 11y ago
    I'd imagine it'd play out pretty much like any other courier service? So long the couriers are plausibly not involved they're not gonna get in trouble right? It's a boon for LE. They'll have access to the data. If they make enough fuss, they might even get Uber to encourage drivers to report suspicious activity. (What do they have to lose? No one wants to stick up for evil drug dealers.) Remember how some of the Silk Road vendors were caught. LE found a couple suspicious packages confirmed to contain unlicensed medicines (supposedly via random inspection, but could have been secret spying, or regular gumshoe work). Investigators go to originating USPS office, look for suspicious activity. Quickly find it, make a bust. Really, it should just point out the silliness of such contraband laws in the first place.
  - gregpilling 11y ago
    If you ship drugs with UPS or Fedex, law enforcement will dress up as the driver and personally deliver your package. They arrest you as soon as you sign for it. Source - know many people at UPS and Fedex
    - craftkiller 11y ago
      What? I doubt that would hold up in court. I sign for packages all the time without knowing what they are, does signing for a package really mean anything other than "I've received a package and it doesn't look damaged"? Should I be making the UPS and FedEx guy wait as I open every package in front of them to confirm someone isn't maliciously sending me drugs?
      - mninm 11y ago
        I remember this happened to a minor league baseball coach for the Red Barrons back in the '90s. Basically, someone who knew the guy wanted to send the coach an envelope with cocaine in it. So the genius gave the envelope to his secretary to mail. The secretary accedently spilled some coffee on the envelope and decided to open it to check the contents. She found the drugs and called the police. The police, now having the drugs and the guy that was going to send them, hatch a plan. First, they mail the drugs to the coach. Then shortly after the envelope arrives they search the coach's room. Low and behold they find cocaine and the coach is arrested. I'm not sure how it turned out but it looks like the coach is still coaching to this day: http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19960523&slug=2330759 http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=199...
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]

fezz 11y ago

This happens in LA already a fair amount in my experience. It's perfect for many productions where instead of picking up gear across town and sending a PA back and forth. The only down side is the repeatability and consistency that is valuable with using the same people who know where exactly to go and how to navigate the sometimes odd places.

Laaw 11y ago

Conversely: "Hey Uber driver? I need you to pick up a duffel bag located at Cicero and X, under the bridge. Do NOT look in the bag. You will be tipped an extra $500 in cash if you obey these instructions."

toomuchtodo 11y ago
Take it further. Is a lock Pelican case suspicious? I've used them constantly to ship technology equipment worth tens of thousands of dollars. Now what if I'm moving coke around in them, with Uber drivers doing the deliveries. Who is going to question locked gear with a bunch of mundane shipping stickers on the outside? Interesting times!
- Spooky23 11y ago
  This is already a thing. A guy down the block from me was receiving a few pounds of weed through the mail every week for several months.
- MichaelGG 11y ago
  I'd imagine it'd play out pretty much like any other courier service? So long the couriers are plausibly not involved they're not gonna get in trouble right? It's a boon for LE. They'll have access to the data. If they make enough fuss, they might even get Uber to encourage drivers to report suspicious activity. (What do they have to lose? No one wants to stick up for evil drug dealers.) Remember how some of the Silk Road vendors were caught. LE found a couple suspicious packages confirmed to contain unlicensed medicines (supposedly via random inspection, but could have been secret spying, or regular gumshoe work). Investigators go to originating USPS office, look for suspicious activity. Quickly find it, make a bust. Really, it should just point out the silliness of such contraband laws in the first place.
- gregpilling 11y ago
  If you ship drugs with UPS or Fedex, law enforcement will dress up as the driver and personally deliver your package. They arrest you as soon as you sign for it. Source - know many people at UPS and Fedex
  - craftkiller 11y ago
    What? I doubt that would hold up in court. I sign for packages all the time without knowing what they are, does signing for a package really mean anything other than "I've received a package and it doesn't look damaged"? Should I be making the UPS and FedEx guy wait as I open every package in front of them to confirm someone isn't maliciously sending me drugs?
    - mninm 11y ago
      I remember this happened to a minor league baseball coach for the Red Barrons back in the '90s. Basically, someone who knew the guy wanted to send the coach an envelope with cocaine in it. So the genius gave the envelope to his secretary to mail. The secretary accedently spilled some coffee on the envelope and decided to open it to check the contents. She found the drugs and called the police. The police, now having the drugs and the guy that was going to send them, hatch a plan. First, they mail the drugs to the coach. Then shortly after the envelope arrives they search the coach's room. Low and behold they find cocaine and the coach is arrested. I'm not sure how it turned out but it looks like the coach is still coaching to this day: http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19960523&slug=2330759 http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=199...
deleted 11y ago
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