Uber drivers are making headlines lately for their kindnesses and going above and beyond the call of duty. In 2019, a driver’s story about how he saved a female passenger from a potentially dangerous situation went viral.
He drove home late one evening when he received a call from a woman who wanted to pick him up from a local fair. The passenger received the ride and sent him a text message via the mobile app within minutes.
“When you get here, can you pretend to be my boyfriend?”
Brandon was confused and replied, “What do you mean?”
The woman responded, “I just need you to act like you know me, and that you’re not my Uber driver.”
The driver accepted her request because it sounded easy enough, and Brandon loved helping others. He removed his Lyft and Uber stickers from his window.
He felt uncomfortable, but he took off his wedding ring. He made a mental note to keep it away from the eyes.
Brandon saw a man with a blonde hair and a woman in front of him when he arrived to the pickup location. His fare looked “very calm and collected,” but her body language towards the guy was the opposite.
In an interview with Bored Panda, he described it as a “‘stay right where you are, and I’ll be over here’ vibe.”
After seeing her ride, she set the scene immediately. She looked over at him and yelled, “Hi Babe! I’ll be right there!”
Brandon didn’t want to leave her hanging, so he shouted back, “Awesome, because I’m starving!” He also waved at the guy, who hesitantly waved back and looked less than thrilled to see him.
The woman got inside of the car, and once they were out of the guy’s sight, the woman let out a huge sigh of relief. Brandon assured her that all was well and he inquired about her story.
Still shaken by the encounter, she began to tell her story.
Brandon was told by her that she went to the fair along a group of friends. In that group was a guy who was very forward with her—the type who wouldn’t take no for an answer. The man also had a history of being “very aggressive.”
The passenger thought she could escape him by heading to her car, but he followed and claimed to be a “gentleman.” So before they reached her vehicle, she pretended to have lost her keys. The pesky guy offered to give her a ride, and that’s when she thought of calling her “boyfriend.”
Brandon decided to share the incident’s story on Facebook.
He wrote: “This should never have had to happen. Men, learn to accept the word ‘no’ as a response. Learn to take responsibility and be accountable 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.”
In his post, he shared a tip for women in a similar situation.
“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,” he said.
Turns out, this isn’t the first time Brandon has had to “rescue” his passengers. Previously, he had transported mothers and their kids from abusive homes to a sanctuary and picked up a young man who had just confessed to his father that he was gay, but the dad didn’t take it very well.
We hope all parents are aware of the importance of teaching their children respect and boundaries to ensure a safer world.
Brandon deserves praise for making sure that his passenger returned home safely.
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