Chennaiites’ most forgetful days last year, as identified by Uber, coincided with its rainy ones. According to the ridesharing company’s Lost and Found Index 2018 released on Thursday, November 1, 8 and 25 saw riders in Chennai forgetting the most possessions in Uber cabs. They were days when moderate to heavy rainfall was recorded in the city and suburbs.
This forgetfulness occurred despite November 1 and 8 being Wednesdays, globally the least forgetful days of the week in the 2017 and 2018 Uber Indexes. November 25 was fifth on the list of days in which Indians lost the most items in 2017. September 16 topped that list. Globally, the day when most possessions were left behind was September 17, a Sunday.
November 25 was also a Saturday, the day of the week on which Chennaiites, as well as Indians, lost the most items. Globally, Sunday was when people lost the most items.
Uber also shared a YouTube video titled, ‘How to retrieve your lost items’.
Chennai is 14th on the list of cities with the most forgetful commuters in the Asia-Pacific region (APAC), with Bengaluru having the maximum. Chennai is also sixth on the list of Indian cities. Coimbatore, the other city in Tamil Nadu where Uber operates, is 55th on the APAC list. India topped the list of APAC countries.
Riders in Coimbatore forgot the most things on July 27 and 29. Riders in both cities were the most forgetful around the same time: 5-6 a.m,and 1-3 p.m.. While this time frame was similar to the Indian average, it was almost the opposite globally: 5-7 a.m. saw the fewest items lost whereas 11 p.m.-1 a.m. saw the most. Phones, bags, wallets and keys were the most forgotten items in India in 2017. In 2016, the order was: phones, rings, keys and wallets.
Uber also compiles lists of unique items left behind. In 2017, cricket batting pads topped the list in India. The list also has a ‘photo frame of rider’s grandmother.’ Cricket featured in the 2016 list, too. Cricket bats were 10th on it.
The unique item that topped Uber’s global list in 2017 were Burger King visors; divorce papers came second. “Letter from my boyfriend who is in jail” also featured.
