Columbus Tripping: Anonymous tales from Uber
The ride-sharing app Uber continues to grow in popularity and everyone who has used the service seems to have a story. Some stories are positive, some aren’t. But most are interesting for one reason or another. We put out the call to Uber riders and passengers to share some of their stories with us so that we could share them with you. Here are a few recent tales that caught our attention. (We’ve pulled out or changed the names and locations to protect everyone’s anonymity.)
My buddy and I were out partying kind of hard the other night. We’d been drinking at another friend’s house and a couple of people that we didn’t know started to argue about something stupid. It was killing the vibe so we left. When we were outside, I called up Uber and ordered a ride. (My friend had much more to drink than I did so I was in charge.) My back was turned for like a second and the next thing I knew, my friend was gone. I didn’t see him anywhere. This was at like 2 in the morning so it was pretty dark and I didn’t see him anywhere. I went back into the house to see if he had gone back inside, but he wasn’t there. So I went back out to wait for the car. When the Uber got there, the driver and I went up and down a few streets really slow looking for my friend. We probably did this for about half an hour, but we didn’t find him. Eventually I just had the guy take me home because my girlfriend was probably going to be pissed at me if I got home too late. Plus my friend is a big boy and I figured that he would be alright. (Looking back…wrong call and I feel like a jerk.) Anyway, the Uber driver told me that we had actually been in his neighborhood and if he somehow spotted my buddy later, he would bring him back to my house. NEVER thought that would happen. I figured my friend would just call in the morning or whenever he woke up and ask me to come and get him. Anyway, about an hour after the Uber dropped me off, the driver showed back up at my house with my buddy asleep in the backseat of the car. Ridiculous.
– “Kyle” (passenger)
I was driving late last weekend and got a call to pick up a guy somewhere off of Livingston. It was a sketchy neighborhood and I didn’t feel really good about being there, but whatever. I get to where the guy ordered the Uber and there’s a tow truck loading up an SUV with three cop cars nearby with their lights going. I wasn’t sure this was exactly where I was supposed to be heading so I called the guy as I’m watching the whole thing with the tow truck play out. I watch the guy answer, so I know that I’m in the right spot. First off, I think that I recognize the guy. It turns out that he owns a business in town and that’s got to be how I know him. He loads up a few boxes in my backseat and then hops in the front. (People always ask if they can sit in the front. I guess some drivers don’t like that, but I really couldn’t care less. Sit where you want.) I start taking the guy home and he starts going off about the mess with the cops. Completely understandable. But he says that they pulled him over, searched and took his car because his license sticker was out of date. I think there’s got to be more to it than that…maybe something that went down in the sketchy neighborhood…I don’t know. None of my business though. Just thought it was interesting.
– “Jen” (driver)
If you’re an Uber passenger or driver and have an interesting story, e-mail it to us and we may include it in our next round of Uber tales. (jj)
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