Taking an Uber should be a simple and pleasant experience. For the most part... it is.
When an Uber ride isn't, it's typically a pretty awful experience. Here's one example: I once had to order a car because it was snowing and frigid and I felt a bit too intimately acquainted with death. The man who eventually picked me up claimed he couldn't find me, was belligerent, abrasive, and threatened to dump me on the side on the road. (Because I asked him to stop yelling.)
I survived that ride, though I'm not sure his career did.
Redditor priestofpies reminded us just how much ordering a car can suck when they asked the online community: "Uber passengers of Reddit that have given 1/5 stars on a ride, what happened to make it so bad?"
"Kept talking me..."
Kept talking me non-stop and was asking me sexual questions and kept trying to show me music videos on his phone while driving and drove me to the wrong location and ended up charging me more. Immediately gave him a 1 star.
"My Uber..."
My Uber was new to the area and attempted to drive down a rail road track. I asked what he was doing and he said "Oh sorry"
"Didn't acknowledge me..."
Giphy
Didn't acknowledge me at all, had some song screaming "just s that d" and on loop, and was face-booking while driving.
"He drove me around..."
He drove me around the planet because he missed road signs and somehow got on the highway? I looked up and was horrified. I asked him why we got on the highway and he said because he couldn't turn the other way because there was too much traffic. The trip was 15 minutes but took 1 hour and 2 minutes. It was insane. They tried to charge me for the whole trip too.
"When I got into the car..."
When I got into the car, he immediately yelled in a stern voice, "STATE YOUR ACCOUNT ID." I take Uber almost daily, and I know drivers like to ask for your name, but I was so taken aback by the aggressive yelling.
As soon as I got into the car, I was met with the most awful smell I've ever experienced in my whole life. It was like something died in his car. I had to hold my breath throughout the 20 minute ride.
Then, he drove me to the wrong place. Two times. By the second time, I just decided to walk to my destination because I was so vexed by the smell. Before I got out, after sitting in the car in silence, he yelled, 'RATE 5 STARS." He wouldn't unlock the door until I agreed.
Yep, 1/5.
"They drove..."
They drove over my foot as I was trying to get my luggage into the car.
"Awesome."
I was taking an Uber home from the airport. The ride was perfect and he even insisted on dropping my baggage to the front door. Awesome. He then asked if he could use the restroom really quick and of course I obliged. He wasn't in there for more than three minutes, but when I went to wash my hands after, I found my bathroom destroyed. Shit was all over the toilet seat and just everywhere. I really wish he had just taken more than a minute and pooped like a normal human being but the dude must have had a leaky butt because there was on my walls too. A one star review was the bare minimum I think.
"Not blackout drunk..."
Uber driver was visibly drunk. Not blackout drunk, but it was obvious he was having a hard time staying in his lane. He kept veering over the yellow line, then would jerk the wheel the other way, nearly running us off the road a few times. He also had an open can of bud light in his cupholder. I had him drop me off a few blocks from my actual destination because I didn't wanna die that night, rated him 1 star, and reported him. Not sure if anything came from it.
"She was simultaneously..."
She was simultaneously driving for Lyft and picked up another passenger completely out of our way. Then proceeded to brag about how she picked up some high school kids earlier and they had their destination set to the liquor store where she bought them liquor.
"One in the front..."
She had 3 kids with her. One in the front, probably 14. A preteen in the back and a toddler, no older than 3 also in the back with no car seat. She was also driving erratically and reeked of weed.
"They just never came."
They just never came. I waited 20 minutes and the car drove around in circles nowhere near my location. I eventually just canceled but it when I did my score dropped. I went from a 5.00 to like a 4.9 or something, so she must have rated me. Then it gave me the option to rate her so I gave her a 1/5. I don't know if it was a glitch or what but now I can never recover my perfect score.
"He refused to acknowledge..."
He refused to acknowledge my presence and kept asking my husband if he thought it was fine that he (the driver) wanted to take a 2nd wife because he believed men should be happy. My husband was not about that at all and said that if he wanted a second wife, she deserved a second husband and the driver flipped out and told us that men deserve more than women and that she should be fulfilled by taking care of his children. It was incredibly surreal, uncomfortable and demeaning. So yeah, a big complaint was filed with Lyft. EDIT: he specifically said he did not believe in divorce and wanted multiple wives because it was normal in his religion. I'm also the person that ordered and paid for the ride and he actually "shush"ed me several times for chiming in.
"I was..."
I was at the DC Zoo and needed to get the metro and had foolishly decided I didn't need my cane so didn't want to walk back. The driver picked me up and tried to convince me to just get a ride to Union Station instead of the nearest redline when I declined he pulled over and cancelled the ride reporting me as drunk and abusive.
"Immediately..."
Immediately when I got in the car, I was hit by an incense-y smell that was so strong it gave me an instant headache. She spent the whole ride trying to get me to join her essential oil down line in a well-known oil MLM. I declined politely and then firmly (I thought). We got to my destination and my head was pounding. She stopped and locked the doors. She told me that she wasn't going to let me out until I gave her my email address. I kind of chuckled and unlocked my door and she immediately locked it again. Then she pressed child lock so that when I tried to open the door it didn't budge. I was shocked and scared, and she repeated that I had to give her my email address and handed me a notepad and pen. I made one up and dashed out of there. Immediately reported her.
A coupe of weeks later she somehow found me on Facebook and sent a friend request. Needless to say I blocked her.
"The guy fell asleep..."
The guy fell asleep at the wheel and rear ended a car in front of us, then tried to flee, then left me at the side of the freeway. At Fruitvale in Oakland.
In the end I got a 500 dollar credit from Uber.
"I was on a work trip..."
I was on a work trip in another city, riding in to my first shift at around 5am. We were having a casual conversation and he asked whether I had a boyfriend (I said yes). As we were pulling into the empty parking lot (no one else was there yet), and I was trying to figure out which of the buildings I was supposed to be in, he asked if I would go get a coffee with him instead. I said no, and told him I thought it was the building straight ahead, but he turned the other way and started circling the parking lot. He said something about no one else being there yet so I should just get coffee with him, and I said no again and asked him to just stop and let me out and I would find my way by foot. He let me out but then pulled into a parking spot and lingered there until sometime after I found my way in.
"He finally..."
My 1-star ride was actually my first Uber ride. Was at a meeting out of town and decide to take an Uber a couple miles down the road to visit an exhibit during the lunch break. I was excited to see what Uber was all about so I watched in the app the whole time as my driver drove away from my location instead of towards it.
He finally called me and asked where I was which was weird because I could clearly see where he was in the app. I told him the building where the meeting was and he was familiar with it so we hung up
He made it to my location shortly after and the ride to the exhibit was pretty uneventful but after he dropped me off I quickly found that the exhibit was closed on mondays. No biggie, I'll just Uber back to the meeting. Not so easy because the driver forgot to end the trip and I couldn't call a new Uber because it said I was already on a trip.
I had the driver's number so I called him to end the trip but he didn't answer. I left a message and set out to call Uber customer service to see if they could end the trip. Good luck trying to get a real person on the line, so I ended up walking back to the meeting.
Finally got a call back from the driver after I made it back and he explained that he went to lunch after dropping me and left his phone in his car. He ended the ride but didn't report the issue and I was charged $30 for a 2 mile ride bc the meter was running while he ate his lunch.
I started the process of trying to get the ride fees back but can't remember if it was ever resolved.
"Took an Uber..."
Took an Uber from my house to the airport for a work trip, flight was at 10am, picked me up at 730. Got a call from my boss on the way in. Driver screamed at me to hang up because he couldn't hear his podcast on his headphones.
My boss, who heard the insane rant, told the entire team to switch to Lyft or taxis after that.
I once had a guy ask me if I was willing to follow him into the woods, depending on the price of the meal.
Yeah. No steak is worth that.
Plans After...
Wait What Wtf GIF by Saturday Night LiveGiphy"Thanks for the ride but I have a date with someone else, I figured you wouldn't drive me if you knew I was going on a date with someone else and I really needed a ride."
"Online dating, talked to her for a while, finally got the courage to ask her out and then she said that as we got there."
iareyours
Mirror Image
“'You look just like my wife!'”
catalinachild
"I did have a guy tell me I reminded him of his son. I don’t believe English has a word to adequately describe my feelings at that time."
UnicornMagicRainbow
"That would definitely do it."
chaotica78
Third Wheel
"'Hope you don't mind if my mother joins us.'"
ofsquire
"Actually had a girl do this on a first date because she had anxiety issues. Honestly wasn’t bad except that 90% of the time she was silent and her mom talked over her."
"I didn’t mind that much and wouldn’t have minded trying again when she was more comfortable except that she was let go at the company we worked at and she deleted her social media profiles and she never responded on her number. Ah well."
Seightx
Liar
Lying Simon Rex GIF by Simon Rex / Dirt NastyGiphy"'Hey bro aren't you gay? I made out with you last night.'"
"Random dude I've never seen before in front of my (f) date."
JHXC16
Was he lying though?
Filter Issues
"'You looked better on Tinder.'"
waqasnaseem07
"Isn’t it basic knowledge that everybody looks slightly worse than the worst picture you can find?"
no_user_ID_found
The Past
"'My ex used to do that too.'"
xxIvyOF
"Yep. I’ve definitely had two otherwise-decent-guy date-situations sour because the ex-comparisons just would not stop flowing. No woman wants to be seen as interchangeable—I’m not here to perfectly fill that ex-sized hole in your life. Focusing on the present moment and a future we could build together is a courtesy we need to grant each other in earliest dates of dating."
LarkScarlett
Powerless
"'I'm an alpha, you cant handle my top energy.'"
Midnightgay28
"I actually left a dude in the middle of dinner, in part, for saying this. I ordered an Uber under the table while pretending to listen to him. Went to the bathroom, and never came back. That was when I was young. Now I’d just say, 'How about we enjoy this meal in silence, before we head our separate ways.'”
UnicornMagicRainbow
Mommy...
"'Mother says I should be back by 9.'"
"Saying 'mother says' just feels weird."
bunnyrut
"That gives me Norman Bates vibes."
Werewolf_lover20
"'Mother says alligators are aggressive because they have an overabundance of teeth, but lack a toothbrush.'"
sodaextraiceplease
Obvs...
just kidding jk GIFGiphy"'If you were going to be murdered, what method would you prefer. Purely hypothetical. Obvs.'"
Specific_Tap7296
If it looks anything like a Dateline NBC episode... RUN!
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Or so you would think.
Do people still knit to pass the time? Are people actively collecting stamps?
It depends on who's asking.
Curious to hear about hobby trends, Redditor gizehgizeh asked:
"What are once popular hobbies that are slowly dying these days?"
Before we've become conditioned to living on our phones, these activities used to keep people occupied.
Before Texting, There Was This
"Letter writing."
– littlekingMT
Literal And Tangible Joy
"Well the internet killed pen pals for sure. I do remember I had a Japanese girl for a penpal maybe back in 2007 or so. I honestly don't remember how it started, pretty sure some website, but that was a fun experience. But now I can just straight up talk to foreign people real time, lol. But yea getting a physical letter that someone took the time to write and mail still is hard to beat feelings wise."
– skyburnsred
Model Trains
"When I was growing up, every town had a model train store in it. Now I have one in region and everything else has to be bought online."
– Hairy_Effective1172
Pretty Rocks
"Don’t see anyone playing marbles anymore, I had an awesome collection in school."
– sheeple85
"I had some marbles as a kid in the 90s. My grandma got them for me and I had no idea what I was supposed to do with them. I always imagined them as a thing kids in the 40s played with."
– Ryoukugan
People Were Moving Canvases
"Paintball has been dying a slow death since 2006. Sad, really."
– hobo_recycler
Before the general population began hating clutter, collecting was once a "thing."
Precious Coins
"Coin collecting... I'm a silver/gold nut and I'm always hunting for precious metal coins. whenever I go into a shop they get all excited because 'no one under 70 collects coins anymore.'"
– ThatFishySmell99
Post It
"Stamp collecting."
– spooky_scully_mulder
"Collecting in general, really. Of course there are still prominent collectors but it's slipped more into enthusiast and niche territory than being a popular hobby that you might expect anyone to have."
– iuytrefdgh436yujhe2
What A Gem
"Rockhounding was immensely popular back in the 1950's and 1960's. Personally, I think it's a fascinating and fulfilling hobby, but when I go to a meeting at a rock and gem club, I'm usually the youngest one in the room by several decades."
– filthy_lucre
People once enjoyed making things.
Admiring The View
"Stained glass. I learned how to make it from my old man, and my junior high art class teacher also taught it. Very few artisans are still around."
– brobeanzhitler
Metal Vocation
"Black smithing."
– kenworth117
"I bought a forge to try. It’s insanely hard work, and crazy expensive. I still haven’t finished a piece."
– DSentvalue
Scrapbooking
"Yeah. I'm watching the arts and crafts stores around me completely uninstalling their racks for specialty paper. Now the only thing they have is mega packs of repeating colors/images. To boot all the inclusions like papercraft/die-cut things, washi tape, scissors, stickers, etc have gotten so expensive I would rather go buy $5 bags at value village to get an assortment of things versus buying anything new. I really, really miss yard sales for the same reasons."
– Phantasmai
I envy people who have jobs that are basically their hobbies.
Not everyone gets paid doing what they actually enjoy and have a profound level of passion for.
If they do, kudos to them.
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While the process could take time, some people make our jobs much easier after spotting instant red flags.
Curious to hear about our general radar of people, Redditor xxFluffie asked:
"What is something that makes you immediately dislike someone?"
Some people just think they are absolutely hilarious and never realize they're the only ones laughing.
Next In Line
"They laugh about having screwed someone else over. If you think you're not next, well, you'll learn."
– whiznat
Unfunny
"when you mention you don't like a thing and they immediately do that thing 'as a joke.'"
– wayfinder
Playing Devil's Advocate
"Kneejerk contrarians. People who, no matter what you say you like or believe, just have to dismiss it and say they like or think the opposite."
– BubbhaJebus
People who put others down get slammed here.
Bad Parents
"When they treat their kids sh**ty in public. I don't mean handling tantrums, setting a rule, having to hurry to the train etc. I mean perfectly normal-behaved kids getting in trouble for trailing along peacefully, looking at things, asking questions etc."
"If you don't like tiny humans who learn the world, why have them??"
– raxeira-etterath
Public Humiliation
"Treating people sh**ty in public for laughs. Like being rude to service workers because they think it’s funny. Big red flag."
– Ok_Personality_1080
Simply Uncalled For
"Someone who is a d*ck to other people or animals for no reason."
– xebt1000
Those with ulterior motives rubs people the wrong way.
The Scheme
"If they try to get me to join their MLM scheme."
– spazmcgee1
Hard Sell
"A guy I used to be friends with in high school reached out a couple of years after graduating about a business opportunity he wanted my opinion on because 'you've always been smart', then he set up a Skype call and brought some other dude into the call and they started trying to sell me on what was clearly an MLM scheme. The guy went from friend to 'I'm never talking to you again' in a matter of 10 minutes."
– Mental-Afternoon-164
A Timeline
"Good gawd, this! I've had more than one exposure to this abject bullsh**tery..."
- Back in the late 80's/early 90's I was invited to a meeting of literally the OG "Pyramid" where you're recruited to pay in, and then you go out and recruit others to pay in, and the last in line got f'kall.
- In 1995 I had a coworker try to reel me into Amway, which was a hard no.
- In 2000 it was Pampered Chef, though to be fair they did have useful products.
- In 2009 a coworker tried to get me into some stupid video calling service that was obviously stupid from the description. He even got offended when I called bullsh*t.
– Mystical_Cat
Too much ego is a no-go.
I Can Do Better
"Being a b*tch just to stroke their own ego."
"We get it, you can lift 5lbs more than the 12 year old, you don't have to rub it in their face just because you're slightly better"
– Livia_Pivia
Can't Top This
"Oh, you did <story that's been told>? That's nothing! I did <implausible story>.
"I get the whole empathy through relating common experience, and I'm someone who does that (which drives some people crazy on its own), but there's a big different by empathising through common experience, and one-upmanship."
– Tisarwat
Lacking Conversational Etiquette
"Starting to talk over me when I was already talking."
"Stop it you rude, arrogant jerk."
– R33Gtst
If one or more of these traits sound familiar to you, you're not alone.
We don't have time for braggadocios, pyramid-schemers, and conversation interrupters.
And that's just for starters.
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Pleading to deaf ears...
"My dad told me he had hearing loss and couldn't hear me if I whined because my pitch would get too high."
"Would completely ignore me until I asked him questions in a normal voice."
"Trusted him implicitly until I was 12 and he yelled at my younger brother for whining."- Tyrion_Stark.
Get it while you can.
"That they took everything off the shelves when the supermarket closed."- fgyfddg.
venezuela empty shelves GIF by euronewsGiphySilly superstitions.
"My grandfather used to tell me that if I played with the fire, I'd pee the bed."
"I believed him for a while, until I got older."
"I think he was just trying to protect me from the fire."- teddypa1981.
"Rain, rain go away..."
"That if it was raining where I was, it was raining everywhere in the world."- morningshartz.
Age is just a number.
"My parents used to seem really old to me, so much so I believed they grew up like cave people as children, wearing giant leaves for clothes and what not."- Laleena_.
Hammer Floor GIF by VPROGiphySo that's how they're made!
"That smokestacks from the power plant created clouds."- Scaniarix.
An instant cure.
"The sun gives you sunburns, therefore, moonlight should heal them."- velocipeter.
Better safe than sorry.
"Don't drink and drive meant all drinks."
"My dad was super confused when I told him he wasn't allowed to have any soda until we got home."- hulagirlslovetoparty.
Don't believe everything you see on TV.
"There was an episode of Mickey Mouse where Mickey couldn’t reach something at first, so he tried again and somehow his arm was long enough to reach it."
"As a small kid I believed that if I couldn’t reach something, I should just try reaching for it again and my arm would then somehow be long enough to reach it."- That-Dutch-Person.
love him one piece GIFGiphyThe miracle of childbirth.
"That babies are pooped out."
"When I was like 7 I was listening to my aunt as she explained that childbirth was pretty intense and painful for her, and I was all solemnly like, 'yeah, sometimes just my poops are painful, I don’t think I could get a baby out' and she went 'um, WHAT?' and her reaction made me realize real quick that I had f*cked up somewhere and I tried to change the subject while my mind was just reeling lol."- thesoundingfurrows.
Oh to be a child again.
And to believe literally everything you're told.
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