ETCETERA
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NIGHTCAP
Live By The Rules
By Harry Kirsbaum
s a part-time Uber driver, I never
know who will ping me. Wheth-
er it's a businesswoman on her
way from her expensive West Bloom-
field home to the airport, an African-
American student at Oakland University
on his way from his run-down house in
Pontiac to his part-time job at Meijer or
a drunk couple leaving their home in
Rochester Hills for a staycation weekend
at a nearby hotel with a quick stop at a
liquor store in between, the conversa-
tion is usually upbeat. It also keeps my
interviewing skills sharp.
With hardly any public transportation
and even fewer cabs available, we Uber
drivers in the Metro Detroit area are
much more welcome than our coun-
terparts in the bigger cities like Chicago
and New York, where the drivers are
considered rogue, and the city blames
them for clogging up the roads.
The way Uber works is simple. A reg-
istered fare pings a driver from the Uber
app, and the closest driver is pinged
with a map to the fare's location. No
money is exchanged. The fares are auto-
matically taken from the fare's account
and placed into the driver's, minus
Uber's cut, and the driver's earnings are
deposited into his or her account every
Thursday.
That's fine with me.
And as soon as BP fixes that refinery
problem in Indiana, the gas prices will
drop, and I might even turn a profit.
The thing is, I know the rules, and I
know the requirements of the job.
Keep the car clean and running well.
Pick up the fare promptly and take
them to their destination without
breaking the speed limit.
Be pleasant and helpful.
Every job has its own set of rules, and
if you're not willing to follow the rules,
you shouldn't be working there.
So I find it hard to understand why
Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis thinks
she can keep her job while refusing to
issue marriage licenses to gay couples.
According to an ABC News report,
"Davis said her beliefs on sin are shaped
by'God's holy word' in the Bible, and
that she attends church 'every time the
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doors are open:"
I'm not question-
ing her faith, but her
faith has nothing
to do with her job
description.
During the week from 9 a.m. to 5
p.m., she is a county clerk, working for
the government and following the laws
of that government.
They're not just rules that a cor-
poration has in its employee code of
conduct.
It's a law.
And the law allows gay marriage. If
she is unable or unwilling to follow the
law in her position, let someone else
have that $80,000 a year salary and all
the benefits.
She should resign. Period.
Another person unclear on the
complexities of the toughest job on the
planet is Donald Trump. I wrote a col-
umn about his run for the presidency
last month, and obviously, the world is
still off its axis.
I wonder why this guy keeps gaining
in the polls and when people will wise
up. He offered his first position paper on
immigration last week, and it fits right
in with his simplistic worldview.
He wants to build a wall on the
Mexican border, abolish the concept of
birthright citizenship, and deport the 18
million undocumented immigrants and
their families.
I know that he is funding his own run
for the job in the Oval Office, but is he
also willing to fund the deportation of
all those illegal aliens?
How easy does he think it will be to
abolish the 14th Amendment or replace
it with wording that he likes?
And who's going to foot the bill to
round up 18 million people and send
them across the border?
He's going to increase fees, but that's
simplistic.
I know he has 25 percent of the
"vote" in the latest polls, but he's also up
against 17 other candidates.
As candidates like Rick Perry, Rick
Santorum and Rand Paul begin to fade,
I just can't see those supporters throw-
ing their votes to The Donald.
I can't see Trump actually wining a
primary. But even if he does, the first
time he comes in second and calls the
voters in that state a "bunch of losers,"
he's done.
Someone on the Republican side has
to get some traction, because I can't see
Trump going up against Bernie Sanders
in the general election.
Too many documented Americans
might be heading across the border. .r
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50 September 20151
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