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Taxi And Uber Drivers Are Sharing The Craziest Things They Weren’t Supposed To Hear While On The Job (23 Stories)
When your job is to take people around the city, you will inevitably catch a few strange and interesting stories while working. Especially when your passengers just left the bar.
Interested in these unintentional confessions, Redditor u/spaghetti1498 recently submitted this question to the platform: "Taxi drivers, what's the deepest secrets you've overheard in your car?"
Users (including Uber chauffeurs) immediately flooded the comment section and penned quite a few memorable answers. Here are some of them!
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#1
There was once a lady I picked up at like 4 a.m. who was obviously desperately seeking something. The trip was over an hour and a half away, I could tell she was hurting physically, and she had sniffles and cringing that were synonymous with opioid withdrawals. She was quiet the first 45 minutes but was texting often, and then she took a phone call where she was arguing with someone who didn't want her to go to this destination. She kept telling them she would be fine, but I asked out of concern, and she spilled the beans. The call was from her girlfriend, who didn't want her going to this house to meet up with some dudes who wanted her to come over and hang out in exchange for pills. Her girlfriend was convinced she was going to be r@ped... I told her I’d been in a similar situation with pills when I was younger, that cannabis helped, and that in a few more days she would be free of the whole thing. She cried and cried. I had an old cannabis vape deep in my car that I donated to the cause, and it worked. She then chilled out, and I told her that if she cancelled, I would take her back to her pickup location since I had to go back that way anyway. She cancelled the trip and slept the whole way back.
One of the people whose story you can find on this list is u/thisiskerry. That's the driver who picked up a lady going through withdrawals. Luckily, we managed to get in contact with the Redditor and they were kind enough to have a little chat with us.
"I've been a driver for a little over 2 years," u/thisiskerry told Bored Panda. "I really like driving in general, and so far I do actually like this job."
They said whether or not a group of passengers are talkative depends on the relationship between them. "I like to give people their energetic space unless they want to engage. All I can say is that everyone changes their personality based on the company they are around. For the most part, people seem comfortable chatting in my car," u/thisiskerry explained.
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#2
My best ride was when I took Michael Fassbender from Los Angeles Airport to Beverly Hills, he treated me to In-N-Out Burger, and we sang karaoke all the way to his hotel because he confessed that his dream as a teen was to be a rock star. Coolest guy ever!
#3
I once drove two medical professionals, and one of them was talking to his colleague about the time he was 'kindly kidnapped' out of the hospital by two guys who took him to a mansion outside of the city. There, they asked him to examine the heart condition of a man who seemed to be a local mafia boss who was wanted by the law. They somehow provided him with all the tools and help, and made him operate on the boss. Then they finally let him go, paid him with a big sum of cash, and said they would contact him again for anything else. He said it was one of the scariest, yet most interesting experiences in his life.
When there's only one passenger, however, you never know if they want to talk or not.
"I would say about 45% of single passengers strike up a conversation with me. Most do not. Sometimes I strike up a conversation. I try to remain energetically sensitive to the situation and the person/people in the vehicle. Most talkative people are drunk, depressed, angry, insecure, or outgoing."
"[Ridesharing] apps are changing life as we know it and offering access to the world for people who have been denied it due to disabilities, financial constraints, and other limitations," u/thisiskerry added. "It's nice to offer my time and vehicle to be of service but please respect [this interaction] for what it is — a way for us to help each other out. When it stops being enjoyable for me I will walk away, and reserve that right for all of us."
#4
I once picked up a well-known celebrity from a strip club. His drop-off location was in an affluent neighborhood in the foothills, and as I pulled into the driveway, a half-naked, middle-aged woman wearing lingerie was standing by the garage. He said, 'This is close enough,' so I stopped about 20 yards from the woman. Then she cracked a whip and pointed to the ground at her feet, and this dude got out on his hands and knees — in his Armani suit! — and started crawling toward her. Then she cracked the whip again, pointed at me, and said, 'You're next.' I was not next. I am married.
#5
Used to uber on the side, here in Ottawa. Honestly, one could surveil both business and governement here while driving an Uber if they wanted to. You could run 3 drivers and get intelligence about just a ton of things happening night and day. I definitely heard a ton of things, but the one that got me was about businesses closing and firing every one of its 200 employees months before it happened. It sucked for me when that one hit the news. I was there when they made the decision. Sweet things happened too. A woman had a fun dinner with her best friend and got in the passenger side first and said to me "watch this, I just found out I'm pregnant today, going home to tell my husband, but she's going to me the first to know." "After me. . . .?" "Oh my god! That's right, you're the first I've told. I'm totally freaking out right now." "It's cool. No big deal." Anyway, 5 min later they're joking about it with me and she asks me my name. I tell her and she's like "It was between that and Andrew for the middle name. This is a sign! It has to me (my name)!" "What if it's a girl?" "She'll be a badass with a male middle name like Michael Burnham." Coolest, sweetest conversation of my life.
While taxis have been around since the late 1800s, Uber quickly began taking over a share of the car-service market after its launch in 2010, followed by competitors like Lyft in 2012.
In New York City, for example, yellow taxi cabs have long been the transportation of choice for locals and tourists, but these apps are offering consumers more choices than ever to get where they need to go.
As a result, taxis seem to be steadily losing customers.
#6
one I've heard
"There was an old Vietnamese man that goes into my car and he told me about his life. He told how he got drafted into the Vietcong just as the war ended so he didn't see any combat. He told me sometimes in life you get lucky and other times you don't. I dropped him off at a cancer center."
#7
I worked for Uber Black in Los Angeles, and once I picked up a customer around midnight from a flight from Mexico. He had two stops, and at the first, he waited for some 'compadres' who loaded five duffle bags in my SUV. Well, come to find out the second stop was in San Jose, a six-hour drive! After a $2,500 fare and a $400 tip, I never dared asked what was in the those bags!
Steve Barnett 3 years ago
Probably tennis equipment. They were certainly involved in some sort of racket.
Reddit user u/Jimmynaz97K also agreed to talk about their experience with us. They're the driver who gave a lift to those two medical professionals.
"I have [worked in Uber for] about a year until my country's law changed and it became illegal for a common citizen to be a driver (only UberBlack is allowed now) and to be fair, I really liked that job because I enjoy driving and long trips are awesome," they told Bored Panda.
Much like u/thisiskerry, they said that not every passenger they carried was talkative. "Some couples, for example, would just stay there in silence using their phones. Friends would often chat about sports and rarely, like in the case of my comment, they talked about secrets or private matters."
u/Jimmynaz97K allowed their passengers to sit wherever they wanted and they knew that folks who chose the front seat wouldn't mind chatting. On the other hand, if they got in the back, normally they'd like to be with their thoughts. "I rarely used to speak first, unless saying things like 'I'm taking a shorter path' or 'we can go by the panoramic route if that pleases you.'"
#8
My uncle was a cab driver in LAt, and one day, he picked up two guys who were discussing a murder they were going to commit. After a while, they began discussing whether they should also kill the driver because he heard them talking about the plan and could identify them. They eventually decided not to, but that was the day my uncle stopped being a cab driver.
#9
That he secretly hated all white people because they were all secretly Trump loving MAGA Nazis bent on destroying the world through some sort of capitalistic control thing that I can't even begin to remember because it was so damn outlandish did I just kind of tuned him out.
This was for a 14-minute ride.
We are both white.
Pungent Sauce 3 years ago
I drive delivery for my job, but there’s a home base with a few guys in the shop, and the more I hear them talk about non-white people and who the “real” (US) President is, the less time I try to spend there…..
What u/Jimmynaz97K briefly touched upon is that Uber has had a tough time in Europe.
Earlier this month, the company lost yet another suit as the court in Amsterdam ruled workers who ferry passengers using the app in the Netherlands are covered by local collective labor law.
The legal relationship between Uber and its drivers meets all of the characteristics of an employment contract, the court explained in its judgment. Uber must apply the Collective Labor Agreement for Taxi Transport to protect drivers, allowing them in some cases to claim overdue salaries. Uber was also ordered to pay the local labor union, FNV, 50,000 euros ($59,000) in compensation for failing to comply with the agreement.
Uber said it will appeal the decision.
"We are disappointed with this decision because we know that the overwhelming majority of drivers wish to remain independent," Maurits Schönfeld, Uber's general manager, Northern Europe said in a statement. "Drivers don't want to give up their freedom to choose if, when, and where to work."
Uber is fighting labor unions, civil rights groups, and even Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren in the U.S. over benefits for its drivers too. Recently, it has also lost a lawsuit over whether its drivers are workers in the UK, forcing the company to formally recognize a labor union that will give its drivers greater collective bargaining powers.
Still, if we take a step back before the pandemic, a 2019 report by Wired found that some 106,000 for-hire vehicles were licensed to operate in NYC, a 60% increase from 2016. So chances are we're going to see more similar posts in the future!
#10
A 50-year-old man I was driving once admitted to me that he doesn't know how to cook and doesn't have the time to do it, so he sneaks out late at night to get leftovers from his mother's house.
Andy Acceber 3 years ago
If you have time to sneak out to get your 70-year-old mother's leftovers, you have time to learn how to cook.
#11
I've worked for Uber, and once a clearly intoxicated passenger told me she should have married her brother-in-law because her husband had a tiny d**k and was much less handsome. She had married her husband because he was richer. I hope she doesn't remember she told me that! She's probably mortified to this day if she does.
Paul K. Johnson 3 years ago
I doubt she's forgotten she told you and I doubt she regrets it. A lot of times people have something they want to say but nobody they can say it to so they say it to a complete stranger and feel better for it. I remember going for a drive from San Francisco and planning to return that night. I picked up a hitch-hiker and drove him to Canada and spilled my guts the entire way. He just sat and listened. Then I drove to New York instead of going back home.
#12
I drove a guy who told me he was cheating on his wife with his coke dealer, and that it had been going on for 25 years. I don't know what impresses me more: a 25-year affair or a 25-year coke habit! He also gave me a detailed description of how good his dealer, who was a woman, was in bed
#13
I once had a passenger who was really upset that he was only a convenient 'side-piece' instead of the secret 'boyfriend' of an NFL player.
#14
Former Uber driver... Picked up a very well -dressed lady from one side of town heading to a very rich neighborhood on the other side of town.
During the ride, she made a series of calls and it became clear she was a call girl with quite a few customers. It also became clear I was delivering her to her biggest client, an accident and injury attorney known for extremely extensive advertising in my local area.
Anybody around here would know his name. And he was supposed to be married and the whole family man type.
Ah. Well. My passenger indicated otherwise.
His house was a very nice mansion. Law must pay well.
Nazda Pokmov 3 years ago
Criminal attorneys ARE paid VERY well. You are only as guilty as how much money you have.....
#15
I once gave a ride to two women who spent the whole ride debating whether or not the man whose house I'd just picked them up from had killed their friend, who died in his kitchen earlier that day. The woman — who lived with him — was in her early 40s, and according to his report, she dropped dead unexpectedly after an afternoon of yard work and bike-riding. Her best friends weren't having it.
#16
When my dad was driving a taxi in the '80s, he said he once picked up Meat Loaf from a bar with a giant stuffed alligator. While they were stopped at a red light, Meat Loaf offered him coke from a hidden pouch in the alligator that was stuffed with cocaine and cash.
#17
My taxi driver buddy called it The Limo Syndrome - people talking loudly to each other about a business deal to impress the driver.
#18
I once drove some people planning a murder at the location where I was going to drop them off. I told them to get out and left them.
Roxy Eastland 3 years ago
This is what happens when employment finds a loop hole around regulations. Of course taxi drivers should be trained how to behave if they hear a crime being plotted in their cab, it's going to happen. They should be trained how to respond if a crime is being committed in their cab (e.g. sexual assault), they should be trained how to react if they witness a crime outside their cab, or are the victim of a crime. There are many reasons different industries are regulated and this is one of them.
#19
I once drove three teenage girls, and at the end of the trip, I knew everything about their friends' sexual life — who had slept with whom, with or without a condom, who had infected whom with chlamydia, and so on, ad nauseam.
#20
I once drove a guy who said he'd gambled away his house payment for the month and he didn't know how to tell his wife. I also drove a pregnant girl going to a side-piece's house for the night, saying it might be the last time for a while.
#21
Used to drive for Uber. Would chill at my condo, wait for a ride to ding, pick up. One ding I got was really close. A pick up scheduled from my own complex. I pop down, turn on the car, pull it out. My neighbor walks down - girl in her 20s. She’s with her friend, and spent a significant portion of the ride talking about how she’s cheating on her boyfriend.
#22
I heard two guys talking freely about their scam operation and going into the specifics of how to get the most out of it. I can’t remember what the scam was, just that it had to do with cards and that it had gotten them around $20 million!
troufaki13 3 years ago
He should have recorded them and then drop them off at a police station
#23
On the flip side of the coin, an Uber drive once told me and my significant other that she had been the victim of satanic ritual abuse as a child. She was nice enough, but clearly a little unbalanced, and either looking for attention or a legitimate product of all that Satanic Panic nonsense back in the day.
Jonny Man 3 years ago
Ritual abuse has happened and still does - alas, it is not limited merely to satanists. There are f****d up secret societies whose rites would make your blood boil if you knew about them, and some of the most outwardly respectable people are in on it. The abuse is just the tip of the iceberg of the web of sickening deceit that lies just below the surface of this corrupt society.
Colin L 3 years ago
Nope. "Recovered memories" are easy to produce from leading statements during interviews and hypnosis. Now sexual exploitation by priests and pastors... they have learned how to groom victims.
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Concept-Peter Roosdorp 3 years ago
"looking for attention" in such a manor is usually a sign that a person has gone through some kind of trauma.
Adam Hendron 3 years ago
Of course she's unbalanced, she's been abused. Awfully glib of you to trivialize the matter.
What do you think ?
Lovin' Life 3 years ago
I find it amazing what strangers will reveal about themselves because chances are they will never see you again. Maybe they just need to get it out. Who knows?
BlackPearltheSeaWing/NightWing 3 years ago
I'm crossing off Uber/taxi driver as a possible future job.
Raychel Fitzgerald 3 years ago
I'm the nontalker unless they talk to me, I usually just say hello, and thank you goodbye
Lovin' Life 3 years ago
I find it amazing what strangers will reveal about themselves because chances are they will never see you again. Maybe they just need to get it out. Who knows?
BlackPearltheSeaWing/NightWing 3 years ago
I'm crossing off Uber/taxi driver as a possible future job.
Raychel Fitzgerald 3 years ago
I'm the nontalker unless they talk to me, I usually just say hello, and thank you goodbye
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