I think that most of us probably have taken an Uber at this point or we at least know somebody who uses Uber on a regular basis. We have also probably heard a lot of stories about Uber drivers, some of which tend to be a little bit creepy. What you’ll be happy to know is that not all of those drivers fall into that category and in fact, there are some who are well worth getting to know. They will do their best to help keep their passengers safe so that you can have a driver come to you and take care of you and your needs.
I’d like to introduce you to Brandon Gail, an Uber driver who is willing to go above and beyond for the passengers in his vehicle. Not only is he willing to take care of them, he also does so discreetly and can obviously think on the fly.
He recently received a message from a passenger who asked him to “pretend to be her boyfriend”. He was more than happy to help, even taking down the Uber and Lyft decals.
He wrote on Facebook about the incident and it has gone viral:
“Last night, while driving for Uber, I got a call to pick up a woman from over by the fair. About 30 seconds after accepting the ride, the rider sent me a message via the app.
“When you get here, can you pretend to be my boyfriend?”
I didn’t know to what capacity she meant, so I asked ,”What do you mean?”. She then said, “I just need you to act like you know me, and that you’re not my Uber driver”.
Before I got to the pickup, I took my Uber and Lyft stickers out of my window. Although I didn’t feel comfortable removing my wedding ring, I made a mental note to keep it out of eyesight. When I got there, I had my window rolled down. A man and a woman were in the front yard, talking. The woman was my fare and she set the scene immediately. She looked over and yelled, “Hi, Babe! I’ll be right there!”. I didn’t want to leave her hanging, so i shouted back, “Awesome, because I’m starving!”. I waved at the guy. He half-assedly waved back.
The ruse was complete. Thanks to me. The Mayor of Yes-And City.”
When she got in the car the passenger told the driver she had been out with a lot of friends. This included a guy who had a “history of being very aggressive.”
The guy started out being ‘very forward’ and wouldn’t take no for an answer. He offered to give her a ride so she said she was being picked up by her ‘boyfriend’. That is when she picked up her phone and sent a text message to the Uber driver.
He said:
“She skipped to my car, got in, and we took off. Once we got out of the guy’s sight, she told me the rest of her story. She went to the fair with a bunch of friends. In that group of friends was a guy that was very forward with her and wouldn’t take no for an answer. He also had a history of being very aggressive. She thought that she could leave him behind by heading to her car, but he followed her, claiming to be a gentleman. Before they got to her car, she claimed to have lost her keys. He offered to give her a ride, and that’s when she decided to call her “boyfriend”.”
At the end of his post he told men they should learn to accept the word ‘no’ and take responsibility for their actions. He also said that more women should use the Uber messaging system to get in touch with the driver if they feel unsafe.
He says:
“This should never have had to happen. Men, learn to accept the word “no” as a response. Learn to take responsibility for your actions. Our sons are watching you and they’re learning how to treat the women in their lives by example. Lead by a better one.
Ladies, if you have the Uber or Lyft app, and you need an exit strategy, use the messaging system within the app. You can make special requests that could possibly save your life.”
After the post went viral he put an update to let people know what type of options they have.
“UPDATE: Thank you for helping to get the word out. More people need to know that you can use the Uber and Lyft apps to covertly signal for help. Protect yourselves! Also, some nearby churches, like the Berean Baptist Church, are on standby if anyone needs a safety net.”
You can read his post here:
Source: Some ecards