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..."
GiphyDidn'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.
Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.