Well it is a long-standing joke in the family, that I appear to be an Uber driver. Like whyyyyy??? I wear a Bluetooth headset on one or other ear, a fair amount of the time. Of course, I’ve been heckled to stop wearing it – and I don’t give in.

Tonight was a classic as I was checking in at a Travelodge (and you don’t need to know ‘where’). I’ve used the same Travelodge weekly for the last 3 months, so the people at the desk know me.

I get to the counter, give my name as I usually do – having paid well  in advance online. The chap behind the counter – who knows me – hands me the key for the room. Then he asks me for my car registration. It is part of the deal; I get free parking once they put my registration on the computer.

So I get to the last 3 (of 7) characters of the registration. As he is about to punch those 3 in. This is how the conversation went:

TL: “Do you drive for a company?”

Me: “Is it something to do with the last 3 letters you’re punching in?” [That was the only proximate thing, so I asked].

TL: “No..no.. I saw the headset so I wondered if you drive for a company.”

Me: “Oh [laughing now] – I see what you mean. Yeah I get told that all the time that I drive for Uber. Not me.”

Of course the above resonated with the family joke, that I appear to be an Uber driver for wearing a Bluetooth headset.

The above set me on yet another exploration.

What if he did not ask – what would he have believed? Caution: I don’t know what anybody will believe. I’m not a bledy mind reader – FFS!

The point is that – it appeared to me – that in the minds of ‘people’ (okay some people), if you look like a duck and you walk like a duck, then you are a duck! Likewise if I look like an Uber driver, then I must be an Uber driver – to some people!

But I’m going deeper. I infer that drivers for companies like Uber apparently use Bluetooth headsets with some high frequency, based on what people say. Strangely though, I’ve used Uber many times over the last 2 years and have never seen a single Uber driver wearing a Bluetooth headset. Very strange – they must all have read my mind you see, and thought “This guy is sensitive about headsets, lets lose that while he is in the car.” Yeah that’s it – because ‘everybody’ else knows that Uber drivers ‘always’ wear Bluetooth headsets, ‘all the time’. I’m just saying it like how ‘some people’ do. But wait – I’m not even sensitive about Bluetooth headsets or people confusing me with Uber drivers! I just think it is pretty funny how (some) people do that.

What do I extract from this? Well, I think that people come to ideas based on what they experience. Their attitudes are shaped by those experiences. Attitudes then shape perception which then shapes cognition; the latter responsible for beliefs.

Look – I need to set the record straight:

1. I’m not trying to impersonate the likes of an Uber driver.
2. I’m not annoyed or upset by anyone taking me for an Uber driver.
3. I wear a bluetooth headset a lot because I don’t like reaching for my phone to answer it.
4. I do not like headsets with cords restricting my range of movement when I’ve answered a call. If I need to have a pee in the middle of a call, I don’t have to take a phone into the toilet.
5. When I’m in the car:
   1. the Bluetooth headset is superior to speaking on my phone via Bluetooth connected to the car. How? The headset is noise cancelling, so road noise does not get transmitted into the call, as would happen if it was just phone to car speakers and microphone.
   2. I can put on the radio without the phone hogging the sound system in the car (via Bluetooth to car) – directions from SatNav on my phone go to the bluetooth headset which I like.

To be 100% honest, I couldn’t give a flying flamingo if anyone thinks I am or might be an Uber driver.