WARNING: Some may find this content…uneasy to stomach.
We’re not able to embed this video from Reddit, but trust me, you’ll thank me for not including it. If you want to watch the video, you can do so here [warning: bodily fluids].
This.
This is what drivers fear. This is what passengers leave us with. This is not just disgusting and unsanitary. It’s the epitome of rudeness.
A Driver’s Worst Nightmare?: What Happened
Vomit everywhere. Every nook and cranny.
Even getting the car detailed does not guarantee all the little bits and pieces will be found and cleaned up.
And the passengers? Laughing. WTH?!
Oh but they’re drunk. Of course, it’s funny to them.
Let me tell you something. I’ve been drunk before. This drunk before. And when I threw up? I was horrified and apologetic and crying because I couldn’t believe how awful I was.
People may say that “this is why I don’t drive at night”, but let me tell you, this can happen at literally any time of day.
I am an Uber driver and about 2 years ago during football season, I was out driving, mostly dropping off at the football stadium. It was almost game time, which meant the ride requests would start to dwindle.
So, I thought to myself, one last pickup. Then I’ll head home.
I should have just gone home.
My last pickup was a guy who was so drunk he had to be helped to my car. I should have just canceled and driven away, but I felt bad. And, driving drunk people is part of the gig.
It’s actually one of the reasons I had signed up to drive. I’d rather drive home someone who is too drunk than to have them crash into me because their “best” option was to drive themselves.
So, I get it. That one’s on me. But on to the rest of the tale.
His buddy took the Uber with him because he could tell this guy was too drunk to do much of anything and would need help getting into his house, etc.
I immediately hand the drunk guy a garbage bag to throw up into. Made sure he had it held in his hands before I put the car into gear to start the trip.
It turned out, he was heading home, about 35 minutes away from the stadium and about an hour from where I live. (This was before I learned how to utilize the destination filter.)
I’d say about 10 minutes in…he threw up. I had assumed into the handy bag he gave me.
Next thing I know, his *mostly* sober buddy said something along the lines of: “He missed the bag.”
Great.
But I kept going. Since it was a long trip, it was sure to pay decently (remember, this was about 2 years ago when pay wasn’t as abysmal). Plus I knew I’d be in for a cleaning fee.
So, I cracked the driver’s side window and carried on. When we’re about 5 minutes from this guy’s house, he starts freaking out, but in a very sluggish, drunken way, and saying that we needed to go back because he couldn’t find his wallet.
I said, no, we’ll just go to your house. You’re probably sitting on the wallet. I know when I’m drunk I think I have lost my purse but really it’s in my other hand.
I was right. When we got to the house and he stumbled out of my car and tried inputting his code into his garage door, without success, I found his wallet sitting on the seat. That’s also when I was able to get a view of the damage he’d done.
It wasn’t bad. But it wasn’t great. I mean, vomit is vomit. I completed the trip and drove to a nearby spot where I could safely take pictures and submit them to Uber. I did that and also immediately called support.
They said they would process it right away and send me a cleaning reimbursement later that day.
Luckily, the gods were with me that day. I got the cleaning reimbursement on my way to my favorite auto cleaners. I can’t remember what I ended up getting. Somewhere around $50 for the softball-sized puddle in my car. The actually cleaning fee was around $30. I came out ahead. I was happy.
But, if something like what happened in the video happened to me. I would not be happy. There would be no “coming out ahead.”
There would just be misery and expense. Editor’s Note: Expense is right – Uber and Lyft are making it more difficult to get cleaning expenses reimbursed.
How to Handle Messes Passengers Make
My advice if something like this were to happen to you? Plan ahead. Here’s how:
- Get seat covers! It’s easy enough to throw out seat covers and remove most of the mess without it greatly affecting your vehicle. Amazon will help you figure out which seat covers work best for your car, too, here.
- Use scotchgard or something else to prevent stains from setting into the fabric, if you have fabric seats.
- Take pictures right away and submit them. The faster you do this, the faster you’ll get the money you’re owed.
- Keep vomit bags on hand. Even having a couple in your glovebox or center console could come in handy…though to the point of my story above, they don’t always work.
- If possible, lock your windows! In the video above, it looks like the puker decided to roll down the window to throw up outside of the car. This seems like a nice thing to do, but if you’re on the freeway, all of it is going to splatter all over the inside of your car, just like it did in the video.
Now, for the important part. To the passenger:
Don’t do this. Ever. If you’re this drunk and riding in someone’s car, show some kind of respect. Don’t laugh about it. Apologize.
You just ruined their means for making a living for an unknown period of time.
And finally, take a good hard look at your life choices. I think you can make better ones.
Readers, has this ever happened to you? If so, what happened and what did you do?
-Paula @ RSG
