June 18, 2019 • 49 mins
During this week's episode, I interviewed a woman that jumped out of a moving car after feeling uncomfortable with her Lyft driver. She gives us details on the red flags that she noticed, precautions to take, and tips to ensure your safety during your rides. In addition, I share my own story with not trusting my own gut and how things could have taken a turn for the worst.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey guys, welcome to this week's episode of the PSD podcast.
It's your girl Abone and I'm super excited about this
week's episode. Before we begin, please make sure you follow
me at the Professional Home Girl at the PhD Podcast,
and last Penalities at Ebonet Beauty. Um. Please keep in
mind that all of my guests are anonymous. So let's
begin this week's episode. So, I'm super excited about this
(00:23):
week's episode because I think this is very important that
we in still in each other, that we need to
always be alert and to always trust our gut. So
before we begin with my guests, I want to share
my story of when I knew that something wasn't right
and I shouldn't trust my gun. Um. So, I think
it was like one night, a summer night. I was
out with my friends and I think I only had
(00:44):
like one drink. It had to be won drink because
at the time I was driving and I was out
with my friends and we end up getting ready to leave,
and the whole time we was leaving, something literally told
me to have my friends dropped me off at my car.
Not granted, I think the reason why I didn't have
(01:04):
my friends dropping off my car because I was like,
you know what, my car is right there from the place.
It's literally like a five minute walk. And we was
walking to their car, and then after we walked to
their car, my car was literally like five minutes away
from the from their car, so like it's no big deal, right,
And I was walking there like hotels and stuff like,
it's like it's always somebody out in New York City.
(01:25):
So as I'm walking the whole time, something is telling me, like, girl,
like it just did not feel right. But did I
trust the signs? No? So I'm walking by, I see
a phone boos, I'm walking right. I walked literally right
past the phone booth and then seeing you know, remind
you I had on like five in chills and having
like this long black and white dress and next thing,
(01:49):
you know, this guy. First of all, he had to
be at least I mean, I'm small framed, but I'm tall,
or I should say slim but or slim thick. But um,
he literally was like and I'm not even exaggerating, he
had to be at least almost two hundred pounds. Obviously
he was drunk, and he grabbed my ass and he
(02:11):
literally said to this that I remember like it was
just that I'm sucking that pussy up tonight. Not granted
I was scared of ship, but I was always talking,
you know, never to let anybody know how much how
afraid you are. So my instincts is, you know what,
I see my car right there, I have on these
these very tall, high heeled shoes whatever, and he's behind me.
(02:33):
I don't want to make it like I was scared
because I don't know if I didn't know if he
had anything in his hand, I didn't know if he
was like I just didn't know what he could have
done to me. So I wanted to play my play
cool until I got into somebody, until I saw somebody hurt,
somebody coming. So when I make my brain to my car,
it would be just like boom, so moms in my car.
He's mumbling, and he's mumbling behind me, and he's literally
(02:54):
like on my heels. So I heard people coming because
at this point I'm like, damn, nobody's outside. So I
heard people coming, And as soon as I heard somebody coming,
I ran to my car, pressed the unlock button on
my the key chain or keep having it from my car.
I run to the other side, locked the door. As
(03:14):
soon as I locked the door, this you just started
banging on my window trying to open the door. Actually,
I just sped off, like I didn't even look to
see if on coming traffic was coming. And so the
moral story is I should have trust my gut, because
my gut was telling me that you should have had
your friends dropped you off, or you shouldn't have walked
your car right yourself, and God forbid, nothing happened because
(03:36):
I was like, yo, I'm not getting raped tonight, like
it wasn't happening, which leads me intell my guest story
about how she trusted her gut and she was not
trying to stick around and see if anything was going
to happen. So, and I think this happened like currently right,
so it'll be two weeks tomorrow. Wow, so current. It
(04:00):
brings me to my guests and her current situation. Where
it comes to lift drivers or uber drivers, I don't
think that's something that we all use. I live in
New York City and everybody uses left for Uber. So
tell us about that night and the beginning. What happened? Okay? Sure?
So um, I drove to me to meet up with
(04:22):
friends and We ended up going to two places over
the whole night, once for kind of like um topps
and drinks. UM. Me and my family we drink a lot.
That's something that we do, so I'm not a lightweight
at all. Um. I had a total of two drinks
earlier than night, between like eight thirty and nine. Um,
and that was it. I needed to be up the
(04:43):
next morning. Also, I drove myself there, so we UM,
I got in the car with with a friend and
we all rode together to the next location where we
had kind of like another bite to eat, and you know,
it was just kind of you know, good conversation and
hanging out and that kind of thing. Um. So we
left the second location around two am, and I called
(05:07):
for a lift, like I said, around two and um
he came to pick me up right at two oh eight. Um,
why did you feel the need to because I know
you're a post because I found what you do Instagram
and your postman viral. Why did you feel the need
to mention that you wasn't drinking so honestly, and I
put kind of an asterisk that it didn't matter because
(05:30):
it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if I was belligerent.
Um if I was barely walking, talking, slurring, whatever. But
there seems to be this um kind of like victim shaming,
and that's the first thing that people go to, is
where you drunk and then exactly exactly and it's it's
(05:51):
as if there is something that a female could have
done differently two sway someone from wanting to hurt her,
instead of focusing the attention on the fact that a
man intended to hurt her. UM. So I put that
in there because, like I said, it was on a Saturday.
It was Saturday early Sunday morning, so it was essentially
(06:13):
Saturday night going into Sunday morning, and I knew that
that was gonna be the first response from people. Um,
and I just wanted to go ahead and put that
out there and just go ahead and shut that argument down.
Granted that there were a billion other arguments that came
after that, but that was the one that I didn't
want to be discussed because I was beyond sober right
(06:38):
So UM. Anyway, so the car comes up and UM,
my my friend who I had ridden with there his
house was way closer to the second restaurant that we
went to. I was like, you know, there's no need
for you to double back, you know, just the whole thing, like,
don't worry, it's attending to d I'm sorry, just go
(06:59):
home exactly. Yeah. Like, and I feel like that's kind
of the energy that all of our friends kind of
we just consider one another, if that makes sense. So, um,
so he pulls up, and because I buy myself, there
are a couple of things that I do. Um, I
first thing I do is always check the license plate
and the model of the car, because from what I understand,
(07:22):
their scanners that people can purchase to kind of get
information as far as your pickup and what your name is,
and that car cannot even be affiliated with the rideshare
service at all. You know what's so funny. I was
doing my research for this earlier today, and that is true.
They can purchase that stuff and they don't have to
(07:42):
have no affiliation exactly with the company, which is scary
for sure. So someone can pretend to be picking you up.
But LIFT always puts the car um make, model, color,
and license plate. So it's always been a point for
me to check all three of those things because the odds,
(08:06):
I mean, even with the license plate, there's no way
that someone who's not affiliated. They're like, it's just not
gonna match, you know what I mean. So I go
to the back of the car, I check the license plate.
I make sure that it's the right car. I walked
to the passenger side window. He rolls the window down.
I'm looking at him and he I always make them
kind of dictate the name that I have on lift,
(08:26):
which is not my personal name, Like it's not my
real name and some sort of nickname that I use,
And why do you do that? Always name right, And
that's fine, And that's just something that I choose not
to do. So I don't have a profile avatar. I
have an uplift um a bloated one. And then I
don't use my real name just because, um, my name
(08:47):
is like a little bit unique. And I just feel like,
with technology, it's so easy to figure out who someone is,
you know what I mean. So, like, you know, your
name is like Brittney or actually it's something exactly so.
And even with that that first name, you know, it
really doesn't take that much, Like you know, somebody inside
(09:09):
that restaurant they swiped your car. Look, it's literally so
easy to figure out who people are, you know, so
I just personally feel a little bit more comfortable using
a nickname. Now, what do you always sit in the
passionate passion seat? No? I don't always. Now it kind
of just depends, like on the situation. So if I'm
(09:29):
with multiple people, then I'm happy to sit in the
back seat if it's Um. I sometimes feel like it's
if it's the middle of the day that I'm okay
to sit in the back seat because you know, it's visible.
You know, I can see what's going on in the
car better, I can see what's going on outside better. Um.
But that night, my gut told me to sit in
(09:50):
the front seat of the car, and it just was
what it was. Now. One thing that I don't do
when I do sit in the backseat of the car
is I don't allow drivers to handle my door, wars Um.
Because you know, a lot of drivers they want to
give good customer service and I appreciate that. But police
don't handle my door. They could switch on the child lock, right,
(10:10):
especially if they're pulling up and they've already kind of
opened the door for you, and you don't even know
if the childlock is on because you can't even hear it. Nope,
you can't hear it. And it's so and I mean,
you got to think about it. You're getting in the
car with your stuff, you're on the phone, you're trying
to sit your bag down, you're trying to make sure
you have all of your stuff, you know what I mean.
It's in those two seconds that can flip it on.
(10:31):
So I never let a driver handle my door, even
if it is in the back, because if you open
the door yourself, you can look and see if the
childlock is on. And if you open that door, then
you know, um, you can look, you know what I mean,
and see what's going on. You know, sit down, you know,
move forward. But I um, um, so, so my friend waited.
(10:54):
I mean he's a gentleman, he really is. We've been
friends for honestly to in or fifteen years. So I
get in the car, he opens the door for me.
I get in the front seat, He closes the door
for me, kind of waves goodbye to me and watches
the car drive off. So one thing that I normally
do is share my location with whoever it is that
(11:15):
I'm with, you know what I mean, they can kind
of keep tabs on me. Um. And the first thing
that I noticed when I got in the car was
at the front seat was pushed all the way forward,
like like too far forward. And so I was like, um,
list at man, it's it's you. You're so right, and
(11:38):
just picking up on those little things because like my
knees were almost touching the dashboard. But I'm honestly not
that tall, so it wasn't but still right, you know.
That was just something I picked up on. And he said, um,
like move your seatback, like get comfortable, like you don't
have to be sitting all up front, you know that
(12:00):
The thing I told him, no, I'm good, don't work
like you know, it's no problem. But I had my hair,
so I have um, like big natural hair, and I
had my in a high butt and like pinned down
that whole thing. And I just kind of made like
a little joke like, oh, but my hair is to
the top of the car, you know, just trying to
(12:20):
lighten things up a little bit, and he he said, oh,
don't worry, like it's so pretty. It's so pretty, like,
don't worry. I was like, okay, noted. Then. Uh So
when I got in the car, there was like jazz.
It was like how do I explain it, like hip
hop jazz music kind of played, like upbeat jazz music playing,
(12:43):
and I don't you know, some of the drivers don't
like to play music, you know, they just don't want
to of bend anybody or have somebody listening. You know, jazz,
it's kind of like it can transcend all audiences. So um.
Then he picked up his phone and he was like,
(13:04):
you know, let me turn this. So oh, I skipped apart.
I apologize and I got in the car. Um I
had put my destination as a restaurant because I parked
my car along that street and the the GPS called
out like your destination may be closed upon arrival. Kind
(13:24):
of yeah, so he kind of looked at me. I
made the mistake of telling him, oh, I'm going back
to my car, which is not something I would normally do.
But he kind of looked at me like girl, what,
like why you have you know what I mean? You
know why? I do it as well too. Whenever I'm
in a lift for um uber, I always get the
(13:46):
address in my GPS because I need to make sure
we're going the same way. I do that so normally,
like I I will like follow along with the GPMS.
But honestly, I didn't do it that now. Uh Um,
I don't know. I'm not saying I was comfortable. I
just that was something I normally do is have my
phone out and follow and I just didn't do it
(14:07):
that day. Um. But anyway, so that notification came from
his GPS. It came out through the car speakers because
his phone was connected, and he said, let me turn
this music off so I can hear the directions or
like so I can pay attention to the map or
something like that. And that was the last time that
I heard any directions dictate anything. So it was at
(14:30):
that point in time that he not only turned off
the music, but he either turned off or removed the
volume from the app. So I never heard it say
turn right or turn you know what I mean. So
you know, he when we leave, he takes a right.
I personally think we could have gone straight down the street,
but he takes a right. But there are you know,
(14:53):
in the Atlanta area, there are fifty ways to get
to where you need to go. And I know that
a lot of driver to drive a lot no quicker ways,
and so I wasn't really alarmed immediately. So you know,
we're driving. It's you know, he's driving really slow, which
I was kind of annoyed about. It was like, God,
(15:15):
like I'm tired, Like I'm trying to get back to
my car because you've been saying that the destiny your
car was like what Tim is away right about tending
I would say fifteen minutes like with traffic and stuff.
So it's about ten fifteen minutes. So um. And honestly,
by the time like I had got in the car
and just kind of the whole thing happened, it was
(15:35):
I think it ended up being like twenty three minutes.
So um. Anyway, we start driving, he's driving really slowly,
and we had a really intelligent conversation um about Atlanta gentrification. Um.
He said he's not originally from here, that he had
been living here for fifteen years, just the whole thing.
(15:56):
So um. We turned onto a certain street and we
were at a light. And because they're gentrifying all parts
of Atlanta, there will be some really nice things on
one block. If you go one block back, you're in
an area where not good things happened. So I just
leave at that so I may I naively hindsight is
(16:21):
made the comment because we were we were around a
certain area and I was like, you know, this part
is really nice, but honestly, even if you go one
street over, you know, I've heard and seen things that
have gone on over there, Like you just really need
to be careful as a driver. And he started throwing
his weight around telling me that he didn't need to
worry about that. You know, he his work security for
(16:44):
all of these years, he worked homeland security, high Museum.
He worked closely with the pastor at like a huge
mega church here in Atlanta security for this, and he
just knows how to handle people. And it was a
own that It was a combination of me noticing that
we were in this area, which is a little further
(17:06):
than I thought we needed to be, in that comment,
those comments of him trying to intimidate me, that I
started to feel uncomfortable. My stomach started to not up,
I started sweating. So at this point I start actively
sending my location, Like every time we crossed over another street.
I was sending my location to the friend that I
just left, and I sent him a message and I said,
(17:28):
call me, so again, we're still driving down these history.
He's missing turns that I think we should be. He
did call me, but so remember I was telling you
he lives really close to that restaurant, so he had
gone home. He started getting right for bed, like had
a quick shower, that kind of thing. So this is
(17:49):
like what he's doing in this time that I'm sending.
I'm sending my location and all that. So, um, we
passed another turn where I thought we should be going.
In the driver he just keeps telling me, oh my god,
you're so pretty. You should model. You know, your hair,
your this, you'r that. I was just like, at this point,
(18:10):
I'm starting to like okay, almost like okay, what's the plan? Wow,
sot of all, it's it's two thirty in the morning,
Like who says that? Who says that? Really not about that?
So it's like, what do you sir it I made
(18:33):
that comment, you know, to the police investigators and let
them know, like listen, I've taken lift before late at night,
I've taken it with friends, you know whatever. And if
it's a male female dynamic, whether it's one male versus
a few versus one and they're not how do I
(18:53):
how do I phrase this? And there's no sneakiness or
weirdness or anything like that going on. They will go
out of their way to steer the conversation and like, um,
surface level, but you know what I mean, like, you know,
do you guys work around here? You know, what do
(19:14):
you do? Do you like Atlanta? I like these restaurants,
and they will go out of their way to make
sure that you don't feel uncomfortable, because that dynamic already
called to that, if that makes sense. So we're driving.
We're probably driving like another three or four minutes, and
(19:34):
we cross over a street and like alarm bells were
just going off and I was just like hell no,
like we're not supposed to be over here. This is
not It was what was like, if you can describe,
like what are the feelings like when you know, like
the alarm bells, because I think a lot of times
people don't know like like I know when something's going crazy.
It's because like like not in you stomach, like a
(19:55):
hair start sitting up. Like what was experiencing. Um, it
was almost just like the anticipation of something not going well.
I was feeling like naja, okay, oh, I'll put it
like this. Do you remember like when you were little
right and you did something you weren't supposed to do, right,
(20:17):
maybe at school, maybe at home, and maybe it wasn't
even that big. You just didn't really know what the
consequences would be. And then kind of just that anticipation
of of something you know it's not gonna be good, right,
you just don't know, but you know it's not gonna
end well. So it was something like that. So I
(20:41):
actually when we started going down this one street, I
actually thought like, oh my god, I could projectile vomit
on this one shield right now, and there there would
be nothing I can do about it. That's how sick
I felt. I felt like food poisoning. Wow. So I
(21:02):
he turns on he starts turning onto a street like,
didn't notice that you would like starting phil? I'm sure.
I'm sure he did, because when we started talking, I
started like stuttering and stuff like that. And at one
point he picked up his phone and he was like,
let me see how far we are from your destination.
Oh seven minutes. Let's get you to where you need
(21:22):
to go, almost like that was gonna calm me down,
and I was still like, um, nope. So he starts,
so I'm super visual. Um, that's what I do in
my job. That's just the way I'm wired. Um, I
just really can remember things. Now if you tell me something,
if I write something now you know whatever, that that's
(21:44):
not whatever. But if I can see it, especially like
in color or the way things are set up, you
know whatever. So we started turning on so we passed
an office building that was like beautifully I just remember
it being like beautifully landscaped. I was like, wow, you know, like,
I just remember seeing that. And then we turned onto
a street and there's a median and I can immediately
(22:06):
in the media and see that the street is not
being taken care of. There's pine straw, there's trash, like
it looks desolate. It looks like a forgotten street almost.
And when he started to turn on the street, I said,
I'm not feeling well. Can you please stop the car,
can you please pull over. I'm just I'm really not
(22:27):
feeling well. And he, like I said, he's already driving slow.
So he slows down a little bit to make this turn,
but he speeds up, if that makes sense, to continue
down the street. And I look over at him and
he has this like death grip on the steering wheel
with his right hand. With his left hand, he has
(22:50):
what I would identify as a nervous like I'm in
the back seat watching this like there'siness because that's because
that tell me memory and that's how. And sometimes I'm
like when people, because I've had people, you know, my
Instagram and stuff like that tell me that they think
I'm lying and all this kind of stuff. No, I'm sorry, sis,
(23:10):
I'm sorry, bro, this is for real. This is remember
what killing me about that? Because I was going through comments,
I was just like, why would somebody make this up?
And I know there's a lot of bug that people,
but like when I was reading it and you was
like you provided free shots and stuff, nothing about the
told him that you was lying. No, I would. First
(23:31):
of all, I would never wish this on anybody. Second
of all, this would not be a lie that I
would tell. I mean honestly, like, things are going pretty
okay for me right Like I have all of my
basic necessities. You know, I'm not starving, I have friends,
like things are Why would why would I want this?
(23:51):
So what are you getting from this? Exactly? So he
turned down the street. He turned down the street. I
look over, he's got this deper up on the steering wheel.
He's like rubbing his index finger and his thumb together
like vigorously, and I feel a car speed up, and
it happened so fast. I don't remember it so Also too,
(24:14):
I'm very type a. Everything that I do has to
be a plan. Everything that I do, um needs to
be thought of, thought out. That's just the kind of
person I am. And it happened so quickly. When I
looked over and felt the car speed up, and looked
over and saw him doing that, I felt like I
was gonna vomit. I felt like it was coming up
from my belly like my chest kind of um, you know,
(24:37):
like you would he a little bit like my chest
kind of And when vomit happened, my arm extended out
and opened the car door, and I I jumped out, Wow,
how fast do you think he was lawing? I would
say that he probably still was not going over twenty
because he slowed down to make the turn right as
(24:58):
soon as as soon when I say, we were coming
up on the turn, and I asked him to pull over,
so it wasn't like the car was had fully turned.
And then I asked, when I saw that, media look amiss?
The way it did. Already knew what coming street. We
were turning around, you know what I mean, going on
like I'm not new to this, Like I know what
is around Atlanta, you know what I mean. So as
(25:20):
soon as we were starting to make the turn, I
asked him to pull over. I and buckled my seatbelt,
asked him to pull over. I felt him speeding up.
I saw over and looked at and I just got out.
So then you start when you jumped out, like what
happened next? So um, I had just because this will
make sense later. So I had on sneakers, socks, jeans,
(25:44):
I had on a white T shirt and I had
on a jean jacket on top, and I had a
crossbody person. I had all my things like on me.
I wasn't except for my phone. So I don't remember
picking up the phone. But my friend must have called
me back and I answered it as soon as I
rolled out of the car. Because when I excuse me,
(26:06):
when I when I stopped rolling. So I jumped out
of the car and I hit I flipped back to
belly and then my legs over my head. And it's
when my legs went over my head. The very first
thing I did, was grabbed my back. It had knocked
the breath out of me. So I'm just like I'm
on the ground going like like trying to just catch
(26:27):
my breath. And one of my shoes came off and
my phone which was in my hand during the car
because like I said, I sent the text message, I
was sending my location. I can hear my friends screaming
on the phone. He doesn't like I said. He was,
you know, getting himself together. He was doing his whatever
he needed to be doing. He was getting ready for bed.
He thought I was near my car. He's screaming like
(26:48):
I locked the door. I'm coming, I'm coming, talk to
me like just the whole thing. So as soon as
I flip out of the car, he continues driving for
a little bit. I would say, probably anywhere from and
I don't know, like an eighth to a quarter of
a mile, like still drives for a little bit. When
I flip out of the car, a car begins to
(27:08):
turn onto the road that I was that I flipped
out on. I firmly believe that these people were sent
for me, because when I tell you that, he was
driving so slow and just was really like calculating and
looking around to make sure that there weren't any cars,
and this car came out of nowhere and turned onto
the street and they just stopped and their headlights were
(27:31):
on me, and um, I had gotten I'm very happy
that I had on as much close as I did,
because I had gotten some road rash on my back
from when I flipped over myself and right so as
far as like topical, I have had like still do
some cuts and scrapes on my feet, um, on my hands.
(27:52):
I got a big patch of road rash on my back. Um.
But I actually internally like I really hurt my back. Um. Wow. Yeah,
So if you want to talk about that, yeah, I
mean to me, it's just like it's crazy because like, yeah,
no choice, you know what I'm saying. So it's just like, yeah, no,
(28:16):
it was what it was. And if I have to
I told I told everybody this, if I had to
take that ride fifteen times again, I would jump out
of the car fifteen times because I know I did
the right thing, absolutely, because it really been a lot worse.
I know for a fact, And I feel like a
lot of people have been kind of jumping on my
head because I've been saying this and that. You know,
(28:40):
I can't see the future and I can't say what
he wasn't. No, I know for a fact that had
I stayed in that car for another three minutes or so,
I would have been hurt and this would have been
a totally different conversation. But what's one of the feedback
you've been receiving. So I know it's been pretty mixed. Yeah,
so I would actually I would actually say that or
(29:03):
more have been um love, um, you know, apologies, just
people standing with me, girls sharing stories that are similar
to mine. I saw that too. I was like, yes,
it's so crazy because I was on my research. According
to a CNN and report, um, a hundred and three
(29:24):
Uber drivers and eighteen lived drivers has been accused of
sexual When I was going through your comments, it was
like so many girls, and I'm just like, oh, this
is crazy. Yes, I'm talking about girls who has said
that they have been raped, beaten, and left for dead
in a field by their Uber driver, saying their sister
has been killed by an Uber driver. I saw something
(29:47):
like that. This girl, she was thirty, she was killed
by this I want to say it was an Uber driver. Yep.
Another girl she told me that uber driver did kind
of did the same thing to her where she wasn't
gonna be. She got on the phone with the police
because of her reporting him. They investigated him and found
out that he had killed two other girls, um earlier
that month, and they were able to connect him. It's
(30:10):
just it's just the whole thing. Wow. So when when
the car and funny you stopped, wasn't somebody that was
like they saw what was going on or so they
I really think they were kind of just shocked. They
saw me fly out of the car. So, um, the
guy he drives like I would say, like an eighth
(30:30):
of a mile, maybe even like a quarter of a mile.
I'm pretty sure that he noticed the car in the
rear view, so he stopped. Eventually he stopped the car.
He opens up the driver side door. It's a two
lane road, so the driver side doors hanging over the
left lane. He walks up to me, and I am
actively using my hand to shoot him away from me,
(30:51):
because I know the car can't hear me, but I
want them to see me because they're their headlight and
they even backed their car up just a little bit
so that way they're lights are fully on me, So
I'm waving him away with my hand. He comes up
to me and he goes, oh my god, I'm so sorry.
Are you okay? Do you want me to call an ambulance?
And I was like, I'm good. Get away from me,
(31:14):
I'm good, get away from me. He then comes closer
to me, reaches down and rubs my back like you
would like a baby or something like that, and goes,
you just had too much to drink home. Wow. So
(31:34):
the whole time that he's doing this, oh, I know,
that keeps me. That keeps me up at night. And
the reason why it really like blows my fucking mind because, um,
a previous episode, I interviewed this girl she was raped
on campus and she was raped by a college h
And it's just so crazy to me how victim shame
(31:56):
is like a really big thing. Oh for sure, I
think at that point, I think it was less about
him shaming me or anything else, and just more but
the fact that he wanted to cover himself both by
the car that was seeing me, and just when if
and when I reported it that he came over and
made that guest, you know, he said that, you know,
(32:18):
so it's out. It's on the record. He offered to
call me an ambulance, and he said that, you know
what I mean. So I mostly I think he was
just covering himself. I don't think he had anything to
do with me. Honestly, Hey, I'm confused. The cab driver,
the lift driver came back. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. No, none, No,
other people. The people who saw me were in the
car the whole time. They never got out the car. Oh,
(32:40):
of course he don't cover his ass. No, this is
the lift driver who stops the car, gets out and
test the nerves. Wow. So when you both to the
police and asked, what did he said to you? Exactly
exactly for him to even for him to even think
that in that moment, wow, because he knew that he
(33:02):
knew what you. Oh, he knew when I jumped out
of that car. He already knew that. I knew what
time it was. Wow. And you had too much to drink,
like getting out of here. Wow. And then what to
the people, the other person that was in a different car.
They never came out. No, they never got out of
the car. So I get my stuff and I'll tell
you what they told me in a second. So I'm
(33:23):
getting my stuff up, right. I told you my shoe
came off. My phone was out of my hand. He
walks over to me. I grabbed my phone, so I'm
talking on the phone. That's also why he said that
I get myself up. I have one shoe on, everything
else is still on my body, and I just start walking.
I started walking away from him and the car. Eventually
they roll like they just didn't know what was going on.
(33:45):
So eventually they rolled the windows down. They say, we
called the cops. Are you okay? And it was a
man and two women, and I was like, no, I'm
not okay, Please do not leave. I'm like, no, I'm
not okay. So I start walking away, and um, I
ended up in that building that I was kind of
not in the building, but like in the perkin light.
Remember I was telling he had this beautiful like landscaping
(34:08):
that kind of thing. Because I was barefoot. So I
walked on this little trashy road like full of rocks
and trash and all that, and then I go on
this you know, beautifully landscaped pine straw and like gorgeous
bushes and all that. So eventually they they speed the
car around and They're like, please get in the car
with us. We called the cops like get in, you know,
(34:28):
so I get I feel like I can trust them.
I getting the car and they tell me, they were
like what happened? Like we didn't know if you had
been shot and you you know what I mean, like
you fell out the car or if he had hit
you and you got out of the car. And I
just told him, I said, listen, he didn't do anything
to me. But I know where that car ride was going.
So I jumped and um they told me. They were like,
(34:50):
we're all parents, you did the right thing. We all
had daughters, et cetera. So kind of the police calm. Yeah,
the police came, Um, what's he still around? No, So
he drove. So remember I'm like trying to I'm just
trying to get out of sight. And the jacket I
(35:11):
had on was yellow, and I remember thinking like I
have to get out of his sight because I have
this yellow jacket on and a white shirt, like he
can see me for a while to go. So that's
why I tried to hurry up and get away. I
started walking through these bushes, you know, all this kind
of stuff, and I got a little like dinning on
my phone, like you've just been dropped off, right your driver,
(35:32):
tip your driver or whatever. So a lot is just
going on. And it wasn't until the next It was
the next day when I went back with the detective
that I realized that he drove away more than a
block away, I'm pretty sure, pulled in an apartment complex
and said that he had dropped me off there. Mm hmm, yeah,
(35:59):
so and that was that was most definitely not the case.
So the cops came. Um and when I first so,
I feel like people have to understand and realize that
I'm not taking any of this lightly and by reporting
(36:19):
it to the police, you know what I mean. And
when when I was in the car, I was just
so shaken up that I just made a decision to
jump out of the car because I didn't feel right
about the situation and I didn't think it was going
somewhere well, but he hadn't touched me or anything like that.
So when they were no, you have good like if
(36:42):
nothing's going, if you feel like something that's not right,
you have to So I'm glad that I didn't. But
that night when the police were kind of talking to me,
they were kind of like he was driving slow, so
you jumped out, or like he called you pretty, so
you jumped out. Like they were just kind of handling
me like they didn't really understand instead of like, okay,
(37:06):
she jumped out of a car, let's try and get
everything that we can out of her. Um. So that
even the e m T was really rude to me,
like fussing at me, telling me like, you're not answering me.
This is a yes or no question, like I don't. Yeah,
it was a whole thing. So um, when my friend
(37:27):
finally arrived, Um, you know I told him, I was like,
you know I and even the e m T told
me like, your adrinaline is still up, but listen, tomorrow
you're really gonna be hurt. And so he was like,
do you want to just come back to my house
and I'll drive you back in the morning. I was like, no,
bring me back to my car, like I'm gonna call
(37:48):
my mom like have her have her meet up with me,
like I have to, like I have to go home now.
And um, for like the next about to three days,
I couldn't walk mm hmm, I find right. So like, um,
(38:08):
I mean by the time I had driven myself home.
I was so stiff and locked up. I couldn't get
myself out of my car. That's why I was like,
I have to call my mom, like she's gonna have
to help me because literally I can't. Should help me
up the stairs, let me change my clothes anytime I
want to get out of bed to go to the bathroom, like, mom,
help me, let me do go bad like it was? Yeah,
(38:31):
So what's going on now with it? Like they found
the more they like, so there they are conducting and
investigation and um left fire him. Um they claimed that
they did an investigation, but I also think you just
kind of have to see it for what it is
that Um, they have been partive. So yes, I so
(38:57):
I called and reported it immediately, Um, and they got
back to me. But you know how they outsourced, like
how companies outsourced customer service, So they didn't get back
to me until that Monday. You know, so I made
the claim. The claim had to come into the United
States and then you know, we had to get back
on regular business work day. So, um, they called me
(39:19):
on Monday and the lady was very nice and UM,
she was telling me, you know, we're gonna take this seriously.
We're gonna investigate da da da da da da. And
by by that Tuesday or Wednesday, it might have been
Tuesday end the day Monday. It was very quickly before
they had decided that they were going to fire him
(39:41):
and you know, banned him from the community. Wow, girl,
it's been had anybody found something? Happy? Like? So I
know that people found him on Facebook just because it's
really not it's really not hard to do a Facebook search,
(40:02):
you know what I mean? Um, And so like a
bunch of people were sending me his Facebook like I
found him on Facebook. I found him on Facebook. And
then one Grould messaged me and was like, I found
him on Facebook. And I've just been watching his profile
for the last couple of days and he took his
Facebook down. But there's nothing until the investigation. UM, okay,
(40:22):
let you put like this, If and when they find
probable cause, then charges can be sworn out. M But
it's based solely on that. So there's a chance and
a good chance that because I wasn't hurt, that he
may not be charged with a crime. Mm hmm. So
how have you been doing since since this happened? Because
(40:44):
I can only imagine like, well, I can't imagine how
you feel, but I can't. I can just imagine how
it makes you feel like on a day to day basis,
like it's it's super up and down. There are so
I've done a couple other interviews and kind of thing,
and on days when I do that, I feel like, wow,
like you got your story out, like you might have
(41:05):
helped one other person, And those are really good updates
for me. Then there are other days when I'm you know,
I'm really in pain. So I ended up having some
bone bruising and my neck and back have been in
spasm for the last week or more. Um, So I'm
dealing with the pain. Um. The support has I would
(41:28):
say made a big difference in my healing. Um and
here soon I'm going to be starting some um some
mental health work with mental health professional. Yeah no, I
just um that's how I've been looking at it, like
it is work and I'm going to have to put
(41:49):
this into kind of get the end results that I want.
Those end results are kind of just being freedom, um,
in peace with the situation and not letting this. I
think I'm walking a fine line between being stuck um
in this place of when it happened and in the
(42:10):
pain and you know, the fear and that kind of thing,
and then also and moving forward from that, but then
also realizing that I, because this happened and because I
wasn't quiet about it, I've got a really cool platform
for advocacy now, And how do I move forward and
in my healing and use that platform to the best
(42:32):
of my ability at the same time. Mm hmm. So
that's where I am now. I'm really happy he was
able to share your story on the on the PhD
podcast because I think it's really important, because I mean,
I've even even been times where I went to sleep
in the back gate car, like you just get so
comfortable and you'd be non tired. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, And
(42:54):
then it's like, you know, when people who have been
in situations, it's just like they get victim blame or
they even feel they should never went to sleep, and
they feel like if they're a fault, it's just like
it's not your fault, regardless of what happened, you know
what I'm saying. So I'm glad you did share your
story and even though nothing happened to you, you gotta
trust your gut because I agree. If you probably would
(43:15):
have stay net have a little bit longer, something would
have happened, I know, for a man. And I just
feel like from everything that he said and how he
was handling me, I was handling the car, what street
he chose to go on. I'm sorry, There's just no
way that he had me all the way. He had
me far from my destination. There's no way that he
(43:35):
had me all the way out in. Um it's like
the neighborhood is kind of like a park, so like
this park area in the middle of the night. No,
I'm sorry, No, you cannot. You cannot sell me the
story on the safety in that situation. You just can't. Yeah. Um. Last,
(43:56):
and not least, So, what is um advice she would
give to somebody, like the rare flags I always look
out for, because I think you mentioned a lot of things,
I just want to reiterate it so we can all
be aware. Yeah, well, I would say, Um, the biggest thing,
just period is trusting your good And I feel like
(44:17):
that has just been a whole that that's been the
whole thing. And yes, I noticed some red flags and
that kind of thing, but I needed to have a
convert the combination of all of those things, the precaution
that I took, the red flag that I noticed, and
listening to my gut, if one of those things would
have been off, I have to be honest with myself
(44:37):
and saying that this could be a totally different conversation.
So the precautions that I took I kind of described earlier,
but just kind of bullet point is one that I
don't use my full name on any of any rideshare
apps UM, and I don't use in a picture avatar
at all. But some people are like a profile picture.
(44:59):
But some people have suggested, like I will post a
picture UM with my entire family, I will post a
picture with mixed groups. One girl was like, I posted
a picture of my boyfriend, and that's just what it is,
you know what I mean. So that's something to think about.
Always checking the license plate of the car, because, like
(45:19):
we talked about the scanners, you just want to make
sure that that car matches with the rideshare app so
that God forbid something like this happened to you, they
can find that person UM not I sat in the
front seat. If you don't feel comfortable with that, you
know you need to trust your bed on that you
need to make your own decision on that. But never
(45:40):
letting your driver handle your back doors, um, because I
can activate the child law. And then um, Finally, the
last thing was just kind of like it's the last
two things. Is never like oblige any driver's requests if
they ask you to do something, unless it's stop kicking
in the back of my seat, you know what I mean,
(46:03):
Then then you don't need to do it. Um. And
just anything else that you feel like it's a red
flagger that makes you uncomfortable, then you need to make
note of that and just pay attention you know, writing alert,
not being on your phone that kind of thing, and
just pay attention to where the ride is progressing. And
sharing your ride with your family and friends. Yep, yep,
(46:25):
that is something that I do, just sharing your location. Um.
Ever since this happened, Um, I just like everybody else
in the world, have a thousand group messages on my
phone and one of my friends is a flight attendant
and she'll send it in a big group where one
of us is up at the time, and she was
like the last time she DIDs, hey guys, I'm writing
(46:48):
this night. Shuttle by myself. I'd like to share my
location with you. Okay, we're watching you. Let us know
when you make it. Okay, I made it cool, you
know what I mean? M hm. So that little, that
little precaution alone could cut down on the time it notices,
down on the time that it takes for someone to
(47:09):
notice that something has happened to her. She can't speak
for herself, right, all right, I'm like, really, I'm not
gonna say excited, but I'm really like, I'm really thinking
a good word. Well, I'm no, I'm really more so
thankful because it's just like, you know, I don't know
ever since I started doing this platform, and I'm just
(47:30):
learning so much and means so many different people and
learning hearing about their experiences and like it's really like
it really like GRIBs make my blood boiled because men
or not many big people just take advantage of women.
Man's existing. I'm paying, yeah, and I'm paying for a service,
and it's like I shouldn't know when I feel uncomfortable
(47:52):
and it's like why are you? Why are you doing
it at two or three o'clock in the morning, like
and it could have been something so worse. I'm really
thankful that you're sharing your experience and you know, I
know you would get through this. So I want to
keep in contact with you and then from my gifts
from my listeners. If you have any questions for my guests,
please make sure you email me hello at the professional
homegoirth dot com because I think we need to all
(48:12):
share these stories and share experience that we can know
what to look for because some people don't know. Yes,
I and some people are trusting. Oh yeah, we all
have that friend who's just really nice or you know whatever, UM,
and I totally agree with you that getting the word
out is and one of the few things that I
can do, and I appreciate you having me on. I
(48:34):
would like to say, if you don't mind, UM, that
since it's been happening, I've been seriously considering, you know,
talking to LIFT about some things that they can do
to make the app safer And if anyone would like
to share with me any um. You know, it's power
in numbers, and if anyone would like to be a
part of that, I would like to share a negative
experience they've had with left UM. I'd love to hear it. Yes,
(48:55):
please email me. I would gladly connect you'all because we
need to and how a rack can help you, because
we need to gotta get better. Ye A hundred and
three Uber drivers and eighteen Left drivers. That's that's too
me that's been accused of us all. It should be
none at all. If anything, you trus should get and
be abart y'all until next time later
Hey guys, welcome to this week's episode of the PSD podcast.
It's your girl Abone and I'm super excited about this
week's episode. Before we begin, please make sure you follow
me at the Professional Home Girl at the PhD Podcast,
and last Penalities at Ebonet Beauty. Um. Please keep in
mind that all of my guests are anonymous. So let's
begin this week's episode. So, I'm super excited about this
(00:23):
week's episode because I think this is very important that
we in still in each other, that we need to
always be alert and to always trust our gut. So
before we begin with my guests, I want to share
my story of when I knew that something wasn't right
and I shouldn't trust my gun. Um. So, I think
it was like one night, a summer night. I was
out with my friends and I think I only had
(00:44):
like one drink. It had to be won drink because
at the time I was driving and I was out
with my friends and we end up getting ready to leave,
and the whole time we was leaving, something literally told
me to have my friends dropped me off at my car.
Not granted, I think the reason why I didn't have
(01:04):
my friends dropping off my car because I was like,
you know what, my car is right there from the place.
It's literally like a five minute walk. And we was
walking to their car, and then after we walked to
their car, my car was literally like five minutes away
from the from their car, so like it's no big deal, right,
And I was walking there like hotels and stuff like,
it's like it's always somebody out in New York City.
(01:25):
So as I'm walking the whole time, something is telling me, like, girl,
like it just did not feel right. But did I
trust the signs? No? So I'm walking by, I see
a phone boos, I'm walking right. I walked literally right
past the phone booth and then seeing you know, remind
you I had on like five in chills and having
like this long black and white dress and next thing,
(01:49):
you know, this guy. First of all, he had to
be at least I mean, I'm small framed, but I'm tall,
or I should say slim but or slim thick. But um,
he literally was like and I'm not even exaggerating, he
had to be at least almost two hundred pounds. Obviously
he was drunk, and he grabbed my ass and he
(02:11):
literally said to this that I remember like it was
just that I'm sucking that pussy up tonight. Not granted
I was scared of ship, but I was always talking,
you know, never to let anybody know how much how
afraid you are. So my instincts is, you know what,
I see my car right there, I have on these
these very tall, high heeled shoes whatever, and he's behind me.
(02:33):
I don't want to make it like I was scared
because I don't know if I didn't know if he
had anything in his hand, I didn't know if he
was like I just didn't know what he could have
done to me. So I wanted to play my play
cool until I got into somebody, until I saw somebody hurt,
somebody coming. So when I make my brain to my car,
it would be just like boom, so moms in my car.
He's mumbling, and he's mumbling behind me, and he's literally
(02:54):
like on my heels. So I heard people coming because
at this point I'm like, damn, nobody's outside. So I
heard people coming, And as soon as I heard somebody coming,
I ran to my car, pressed the unlock button on
my the key chain or keep having it from my car.
I run to the other side, locked the door. As
(03:14):
soon as I locked the door, this you just started
banging on my window trying to open the door. Actually,
I just sped off, like I didn't even look to
see if on coming traffic was coming. And so the
moral story is I should have trust my gut, because
my gut was telling me that you should have had
your friends dropped you off, or you shouldn't have walked
your car right yourself, and God forbid, nothing happened because
(03:36):
I was like, yo, I'm not getting raped tonight, like
it wasn't happening, which leads me intell my guest story
about how she trusted her gut and she was not
trying to stick around and see if anything was going
to happen. So, and I think this happened like currently right,
so it'll be two weeks tomorrow. Wow, so current. It
(04:00):
brings me to my guests and her current situation. Where
it comes to lift drivers or uber drivers, I don't
think that's something that we all use. I live in
New York City and everybody uses left for Uber. So
tell us about that night and the beginning. What happened? Okay? Sure?
So um, I drove to me to meet up with
(04:22):
friends and We ended up going to two places over
the whole night, once for kind of like um topps
and drinks. UM. Me and my family we drink a lot.
That's something that we do, so I'm not a lightweight
at all. Um. I had a total of two drinks
earlier than night, between like eight thirty and nine. Um,
and that was it. I needed to be up the
(04:43):
next morning. Also, I drove myself there, so we UM,
I got in the car with with a friend and
we all rode together to the next location where we
had kind of like another bite to eat, and you know,
it was just kind of you know, good conversation and
hanging out and that kind of thing. Um. So we
left the second location around two am, and I called
(05:07):
for a lift, like I said, around two and um
he came to pick me up right at two oh eight. Um,
why did you feel the need to because I know
you're a post because I found what you do Instagram
and your postman viral. Why did you feel the need
to mention that you wasn't drinking so honestly, and I
put kind of an asterisk that it didn't matter because
(05:30):
it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if I was belligerent.
Um if I was barely walking, talking, slurring, whatever. But
there seems to be this um kind of like victim shaming,
and that's the first thing that people go to, is
where you drunk and then exactly exactly and it's it's
(05:51):
as if there is something that a female could have
done differently two sway someone from wanting to hurt her,
instead of focusing the attention on the fact that a
man intended to hurt her. UM. So I put that
in there because, like I said, it was on a Saturday.
It was Saturday early Sunday morning, so it was essentially
(06:13):
Saturday night going into Sunday morning, and I knew that
that was gonna be the first response from people. Um,
and I just wanted to go ahead and put that
out there and just go ahead and shut that argument down.
Granted that there were a billion other arguments that came
after that, but that was the one that I didn't
want to be discussed because I was beyond sober right
(06:38):
So UM. Anyway, so the car comes up and UM,
my my friend who I had ridden with there his
house was way closer to the second restaurant that we
went to. I was like, you know, there's no need
for you to double back, you know, just the whole thing, like,
don't worry, it's attending to d I'm sorry, just go
(06:59):
home exactly. Yeah. Like, and I feel like that's kind
of the energy that all of our friends kind of
we just consider one another, if that makes sense. So, um,
so he pulls up, and because I buy myself, there
are a couple of things that I do. Um, I
first thing I do is always check the license plate
and the model of the car, because from what I understand,
(07:22):
their scanners that people can purchase to kind of get
information as far as your pickup and what your name is,
and that car cannot even be affiliated with the rideshare
service at all. You know what's so funny. I was
doing my research for this earlier today, and that is true.
They can purchase that stuff and they don't have to
(07:42):
have no affiliation exactly with the company, which is scary
for sure. So someone can pretend to be picking you up.
But LIFT always puts the car um make, model, color,
and license plate. So it's always been a point for
me to check all three of those things because the odds,
(08:06):
I mean, even with the license plate, there's no way
that someone who's not affiliated. They're like, it's just not
gonna match, you know what I mean. So I go
to the back of the car, I check the license plate.
I make sure that it's the right car. I walked
to the passenger side window. He rolls the window down.
I'm looking at him and he I always make them
kind of dictate the name that I have on lift,
(08:26):
which is not my personal name, Like it's not my
real name and some sort of nickname that I use,
And why do you do that? Always name right, And
that's fine, And that's just something that I choose not
to do. So I don't have a profile avatar. I
have an uplift um a bloated one. And then I
don't use my real name just because, um, my name
(08:47):
is like a little bit unique. And I just feel like,
with technology, it's so easy to figure out who someone is,
you know what I mean. So, like, you know, your
name is like Brittney or actually it's something exactly so.
And even with that that first name, you know, it
really doesn't take that much, Like you know, somebody inside
(09:09):
that restaurant they swiped your car. Look, it's literally so
easy to figure out who people are, you know, so
I just personally feel a little bit more comfortable using
a nickname. Now, what do you always sit in the
passionate passion seat? No? I don't always. Now it kind
of just depends, like on the situation. So if I'm
(09:29):
with multiple people, then I'm happy to sit in the
back seat if it's Um. I sometimes feel like it's
if it's the middle of the day that I'm okay
to sit in the back seat because you know, it's visible.
You know, I can see what's going on in the
car better, I can see what's going on outside better. Um.
But that night, my gut told me to sit in
(09:50):
the front seat of the car, and it just was
what it was. Now. One thing that I don't do
when I do sit in the backseat of the car
is I don't allow drivers to handle my door, wars Um.
Because you know, a lot of drivers they want to
give good customer service and I appreciate that. But police
don't handle my door. They could switch on the child lock, right,
(10:10):
especially if they're pulling up and they've already kind of
opened the door for you, and you don't even know
if the childlock is on because you can't even hear it. Nope,
you can't hear it. And it's so and I mean,
you got to think about it. You're getting in the
car with your stuff, you're on the phone, you're trying
to sit your bag down, you're trying to make sure
you have all of your stuff, you know what I mean.
It's in those two seconds that can flip it on.
(10:31):
So I never let a driver handle my door, even
if it is in the back, because if you open
the door yourself, you can look and see if the
childlock is on. And if you open that door, then
you know, um, you can look, you know what I mean,
and see what's going on. You know, sit down, you know,
move forward. But I um, um, so, so my friend waited.
(10:54):
I mean he's a gentleman, he really is. We've been
friends for honestly to in or fifteen years. So I
get in the car, he opens the door for me.
I get in the front seat, He closes the door
for me, kind of waves goodbye to me and watches
the car drive off. So one thing that I normally
do is share my location with whoever it is that
(11:15):
I'm with, you know what I mean, they can kind
of keep tabs on me. Um. And the first thing
that I noticed when I got in the car was
at the front seat was pushed all the way forward,
like like too far forward. And so I was like, um,
list at man, it's it's you. You're so right, and
(11:38):
just picking up on those little things because like my
knees were almost touching the dashboard. But I'm honestly not
that tall, so it wasn't but still right, you know.
That was just something I picked up on. And he said, um,
like move your seatback, like get comfortable, like you don't
have to be sitting all up front, you know that
(12:00):
The thing I told him, no, I'm good, don't work
like you know, it's no problem. But I had my hair,
so I have um, like big natural hair, and I
had my in a high butt and like pinned down
that whole thing. And I just kind of made like
a little joke like, oh, but my hair is to
the top of the car, you know, just trying to
(12:20):
lighten things up a little bit, and he he said, oh,
don't worry, like it's so pretty. It's so pretty, like,
don't worry. I was like, okay, noted. Then. Uh So
when I got in the car, there was like jazz.
It was like how do I explain it, like hip
hop jazz music kind of played, like upbeat jazz music playing,
(12:43):
and I don't you know, some of the drivers don't
like to play music, you know, they just don't want
to of bend anybody or have somebody listening. You know, jazz,
it's kind of like it can transcend all audiences. So um.
Then he picked up his phone and he was like,
(13:04):
you know, let me turn this. So oh, I skipped apart.
I apologize and I got in the car. Um I
had put my destination as a restaurant because I parked
my car along that street and the the GPS called
out like your destination may be closed upon arrival. Kind
(13:24):
of yeah, so he kind of looked at me. I
made the mistake of telling him, oh, I'm going back
to my car, which is not something I would normally do.
But he kind of looked at me like girl, what,
like why you have you know what I mean? You
know why? I do it as well too. Whenever I'm
in a lift for um uber, I always get the
(13:46):
address in my GPS because I need to make sure
we're going the same way. I do that so normally,
like I I will like follow along with the GPMS.
But honestly, I didn't do it that now. Uh Um,
I don't know. I'm not saying I was comfortable. I
just that was something I normally do is have my
phone out and follow and I just didn't do it
(14:07):
that day. Um. But anyway, so that notification came from
his GPS. It came out through the car speakers because
his phone was connected, and he said, let me turn
this music off so I can hear the directions or
like so I can pay attention to the map or
something like that. And that was the last time that
I heard any directions dictate anything. So it was at
(14:30):
that point in time that he not only turned off
the music, but he either turned off or removed the
volume from the app. So I never heard it say
turn right or turn you know what I mean. So
you know, he when we leave, he takes a right.
I personally think we could have gone straight down the street,
but he takes a right. But there are you know,
(14:53):
in the Atlanta area, there are fifty ways to get
to where you need to go. And I know that
a lot of driver to drive a lot no quicker ways,
and so I wasn't really alarmed immediately. So you know,
we're driving. It's you know, he's driving really slow, which
I was kind of annoyed about. It was like, God,
(15:15):
like I'm tired, Like I'm trying to get back to
my car because you've been saying that the destiny your
car was like what Tim is away right about tending
I would say fifteen minutes like with traffic and stuff.
So it's about ten fifteen minutes. So um. And honestly,
by the time like I had got in the car
and just kind of the whole thing happened, it was
(15:35):
I think it ended up being like twenty three minutes.
So um. Anyway, we start driving, he's driving really slowly,
and we had a really intelligent conversation um about Atlanta gentrification. Um.
He said he's not originally from here, that he had
been living here for fifteen years, just the whole thing.
(15:56):
So um. We turned onto a certain street and we
were at a light. And because they're gentrifying all parts
of Atlanta, there will be some really nice things on
one block. If you go one block back, you're in
an area where not good things happened. So I just
leave at that so I may I naively hindsight is
(16:21):
made the comment because we were we were around a
certain area and I was like, you know, this part
is really nice, but honestly, even if you go one
street over, you know, I've heard and seen things that
have gone on over there, Like you just really need
to be careful as a driver. And he started throwing
his weight around telling me that he didn't need to
worry about that. You know, he his work security for
(16:44):
all of these years, he worked homeland security, high Museum.
He worked closely with the pastor at like a huge
mega church here in Atlanta security for this, and he
just knows how to handle people. And it was a
own that It was a combination of me noticing that
we were in this area, which is a little further
(17:06):
than I thought we needed to be, in that comment,
those comments of him trying to intimidate me, that I
started to feel uncomfortable. My stomach started to not up,
I started sweating. So at this point I start actively
sending my location, Like every time we crossed over another street.
I was sending my location to the friend that I
just left, and I sent him a message and I said,
(17:28):
call me, so again, we're still driving down these history.
He's missing turns that I think we should be. He
did call me, but so remember I was telling you
he lives really close to that restaurant, so he had
gone home. He started getting right for bed, like had
a quick shower, that kind of thing. So this is
(17:49):
like what he's doing in this time that I'm sending.
I'm sending my location and all that. So, um, we
passed another turn where I thought we should be going.
In the driver he just keeps telling me, oh my god,
you're so pretty. You should model. You know, your hair,
your this, you'r that. I was just like, at this point,
(18:10):
I'm starting to like okay, almost like okay, what's the plan? Wow,
sot of all, it's it's two thirty in the morning,
Like who says that? Who says that? Really not about that?
So it's like, what do you sir it I made
(18:33):
that comment, you know, to the police investigators and let
them know, like listen, I've taken lift before late at night,
I've taken it with friends, you know whatever. And if
it's a male female dynamic, whether it's one male versus
a few versus one and they're not how do I
(18:53):
how do I phrase this? And there's no sneakiness or
weirdness or anything like that going on. They will go
out of their way to steer the conversation and like, um,
surface level, but you know what I mean, like, you know,
do you guys work around here? You know, what do
(19:14):
you do? Do you like Atlanta? I like these restaurants,
and they will go out of their way to make
sure that you don't feel uncomfortable, because that dynamic already
called to that, if that makes sense. So we're driving.
We're probably driving like another three or four minutes, and
(19:34):
we cross over a street and like alarm bells were
just going off and I was just like hell no,
like we're not supposed to be over here. This is
not It was what was like, if you can describe,
like what are the feelings like when you know, like
the alarm bells, because I think a lot of times
people don't know like like I know when something's going crazy.
It's because like like not in you stomach, like a
(19:55):
hair start sitting up. Like what was experiencing. Um, it
was almost just like the anticipation of something not going well.
I was feeling like naja, okay, oh, I'll put it
like this. Do you remember like when you were little
right and you did something you weren't supposed to do, right,
(20:17):
maybe at school, maybe at home, and maybe it wasn't
even that big. You just didn't really know what the
consequences would be. And then kind of just that anticipation
of of something you know it's not gonna be good, right,
you just don't know, but you know it's not gonna
end well. So it was something like that. So I
(20:41):
actually when we started going down this one street, I
actually thought like, oh my god, I could projectile vomit
on this one shield right now, and there there would
be nothing I can do about it. That's how sick
I felt. I felt like food poisoning. Wow. So I
(21:02):
he turns on he starts turning onto a street like,
didn't notice that you would like starting phil? I'm sure.
I'm sure he did, because when we started talking, I
started like stuttering and stuff like that. And at one
point he picked up his phone and he was like,
let me see how far we are from your destination.
Oh seven minutes. Let's get you to where you need
(21:22):
to go, almost like that was gonna calm me down,
and I was still like, um, nope. So he starts,
so I'm super visual. Um, that's what I do in
my job. That's just the way I'm wired. Um, I
just really can remember things. Now if you tell me something,
if I write something now you know whatever, that that's
(21:44):
not whatever. But if I can see it, especially like
in color or the way things are set up, you
know whatever. So we started turning on so we passed
an office building that was like beautifully I just remember
it being like beautifully landscaped. I was like, wow, you know, like,
I just remember seeing that. And then we turned onto
a street and there's a median and I can immediately
(22:06):
in the media and see that the street is not
being taken care of. There's pine straw, there's trash, like
it looks desolate. It looks like a forgotten street almost.
And when he started to turn on the street, I said,
I'm not feeling well. Can you please stop the car,
can you please pull over. I'm just I'm really not
(22:27):
feeling well. And he, like I said, he's already driving slow.
So he slows down a little bit to make this turn,
but he speeds up, if that makes sense, to continue
down the street. And I look over at him and
he has this like death grip on the steering wheel
with his right hand. With his left hand, he has
(22:50):
what I would identify as a nervous like I'm in
the back seat watching this like there'siness because that's because
that tell me memory and that's how. And sometimes I'm
like when people, because I've had people, you know, my
Instagram and stuff like that tell me that they think
I'm lying and all this kind of stuff. No, I'm sorry, sis,
(23:10):
I'm sorry, bro, this is for real. This is remember
what killing me about that? Because I was going through comments,
I was just like, why would somebody make this up?
And I know there's a lot of bug that people,
but like when I was reading it and you was
like you provided free shots and stuff, nothing about the
told him that you was lying. No, I would. First
(23:31):
of all, I would never wish this on anybody. Second
of all, this would not be a lie that I
would tell. I mean honestly, like, things are going pretty
okay for me right Like I have all of my
basic necessities. You know, I'm not starving, I have friends,
like things are Why would why would I want this?
(23:51):
So what are you getting from this? Exactly? So he
turned down the street. He turned down the street. I
look over, he's got this deper up on the steering wheel.
He's like rubbing his index finger and his thumb together
like vigorously, and I feel a car speed up, and
it happened so fast. I don't remember it so Also too,
(24:14):
I'm very type a. Everything that I do has to
be a plan. Everything that I do, um needs to
be thought of, thought out. That's just the kind of
person I am. And it happened so quickly. When I
looked over and felt the car speed up, and looked
over and saw him doing that, I felt like I
was gonna vomit. I felt like it was coming up
from my belly like my chest kind of um, you know,
(24:37):
like you would he a little bit like my chest
kind of And when vomit happened, my arm extended out
and opened the car door, and I I jumped out, Wow,
how fast do you think he was lawing? I would
say that he probably still was not going over twenty
because he slowed down to make the turn right as
(24:58):
soon as as soon when I say, we were coming
up on the turn, and I asked him to pull over,
so it wasn't like the car was had fully turned.
And then I asked, when I saw that, media look amiss?
The way it did. Already knew what coming street. We
were turning around, you know what I mean, going on
like I'm not new to this, Like I know what
is around Atlanta, you know what I mean. So as
(25:20):
soon as we were starting to make the turn, I
asked him to pull over. I and buckled my seatbelt,
asked him to pull over. I felt him speeding up.
I saw over and looked at and I just got out.
So then you start when you jumped out, like what
happened next? So um, I had just because this will
make sense later. So I had on sneakers, socks, jeans,
(25:44):
I had on a white T shirt and I had
on a jean jacket on top, and I had a
crossbody person. I had all my things like on me.
I wasn't except for my phone. So I don't remember
picking up the phone. But my friend must have called
me back and I answered it as soon as I
rolled out of the car. Because when I excuse me,
(26:06):
when I when I stopped rolling. So I jumped out
of the car and I hit I flipped back to
belly and then my legs over my head. And it's
when my legs went over my head. The very first
thing I did, was grabbed my back. It had knocked
the breath out of me. So I'm just like I'm
on the ground going like like trying to just catch
(26:27):
my breath. And one of my shoes came off and
my phone which was in my hand during the car
because like I said, I sent the text message, I
was sending my location. I can hear my friends screaming
on the phone. He doesn't like I said. He was,
you know, getting himself together. He was doing his whatever
he needed to be doing. He was getting ready for bed.
He thought I was near my car. He's screaming like
(26:48):
I locked the door. I'm coming, I'm coming, talk to
me like just the whole thing. So as soon as
I flip out of the car, he continues driving for
a little bit. I would say, probably anywhere from and
I don't know, like an eighth to a quarter of
a mile, like still drives for a little bit. When
I flip out of the car, a car begins to
(27:08):
turn onto the road that I was that I flipped
out on. I firmly believe that these people were sent
for me, because when I tell you that, he was
driving so slow and just was really like calculating and
looking around to make sure that there weren't any cars,
and this car came out of nowhere and turned onto
the street and they just stopped and their headlights were
(27:31):
on me, and um, I had gotten I'm very happy
that I had on as much close as I did,
because I had gotten some road rash on my back
from when I flipped over myself and right so as
far as like topical, I have had like still do
some cuts and scrapes on my feet, um, on my hands.
(27:52):
I got a big patch of road rash on my back. Um.
But I actually internally like I really hurt my back. Um. Wow. Yeah,
So if you want to talk about that, yeah, I
mean to me, it's just like it's crazy because like, yeah,
no choice, you know what I'm saying. So it's just like, yeah, no,
(28:16):
it was what it was. And if I have to
I told I told everybody this, if I had to
take that ride fifteen times again, I would jump out
of the car fifteen times because I know I did
the right thing, absolutely, because it really been a lot worse.
I know for a fact, And I feel like a
lot of people have been kind of jumping on my
head because I've been saying this and that. You know,
(28:40):
I can't see the future and I can't say what
he wasn't. No, I know for a fact that had
I stayed in that car for another three minutes or so,
I would have been hurt and this would have been
a totally different conversation. But what's one of the feedback
you've been receiving. So I know it's been pretty mixed. Yeah,
so I would actually I would actually say that or
(29:03):
more have been um love, um, you know, apologies, just
people standing with me, girls sharing stories that are similar
to mine. I saw that too. I was like, yes,
it's so crazy because I was on my research. According
to a CNN and report, um, a hundred and three
(29:24):
Uber drivers and eighteen lived drivers has been accused of
sexual When I was going through your comments, it was
like so many girls, and I'm just like, oh, this
is crazy. Yes, I'm talking about girls who has said
that they have been raped, beaten, and left for dead
in a field by their Uber driver, saying their sister
has been killed by an Uber driver. I saw something
(29:47):
like that. This girl, she was thirty, she was killed
by this I want to say it was an Uber driver. Yep.
Another girl she told me that uber driver did kind
of did the same thing to her where she wasn't
gonna be. She got on the phone with the police
because of her reporting him. They investigated him and found
out that he had killed two other girls, um earlier
that month, and they were able to connect him. It's
(30:10):
just it's just the whole thing. Wow. So when when
the car and funny you stopped, wasn't somebody that was
like they saw what was going on or so they
I really think they were kind of just shocked. They
saw me fly out of the car. So, um, the
guy he drives like I would say, like an eighth
(30:30):
of a mile, maybe even like a quarter of a mile.
I'm pretty sure that he noticed the car in the
rear view, so he stopped. Eventually he stopped the car.
He opens up the driver side door. It's a two
lane road, so the driver side doors hanging over the
left lane. He walks up to me, and I am
actively using my hand to shoot him away from me,
(30:51):
because I know the car can't hear me, but I
want them to see me because they're their headlight and
they even backed their car up just a little bit
so that way they're lights are fully on me, So
I'm waving him away with my hand. He comes up
to me and he goes, oh my god, I'm so sorry.
Are you okay? Do you want me to call an ambulance?
And I was like, I'm good. Get away from me,
(31:14):
I'm good, get away from me. He then comes closer
to me, reaches down and rubs my back like you
would like a baby or something like that, and goes,
you just had too much to drink home. Wow. So
(31:34):
the whole time that he's doing this, oh, I know,
that keeps me. That keeps me up at night. And
the reason why it really like blows my fucking mind because, um,
a previous episode, I interviewed this girl she was raped
on campus and she was raped by a college h
And it's just so crazy to me how victim shame
(31:56):
is like a really big thing. Oh for sure, I
think at that point, I think it was less about
him shaming me or anything else, and just more but
the fact that he wanted to cover himself both by
the car that was seeing me, and just when if
and when I reported it that he came over and
made that guest, you know, he said that, you know,
(32:18):
so it's out. It's on the record. He offered to
call me an ambulance, and he said that, you know
what I mean. So I mostly I think he was
just covering himself. I don't think he had anything to
do with me. Honestly, Hey, I'm confused. The cab driver,
the lift driver came back. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. No, none, No,
other people. The people who saw me were in the
car the whole time. They never got out the car. Oh,
(32:40):
of course he don't cover his ass. No, this is
the lift driver who stops the car, gets out and
test the nerves. Wow. So when you both to the
police and asked, what did he said to you? Exactly
exactly for him to even for him to even think
that in that moment, wow, because he knew that he
(33:02):
knew what you. Oh, he knew when I jumped out
of that car. He already knew that. I knew what
time it was. Wow. And you had too much to drink,
like getting out of here. Wow. And then what to
the people, the other person that was in a different car.
They never came out. No, they never got out of
the car. So I get my stuff and I'll tell
you what they told me in a second. So I'm
(33:23):
getting my stuff up, right. I told you my shoe
came off. My phone was out of my hand. He
walks over to me. I grabbed my phone, so I'm
talking on the phone. That's also why he said that
I get myself up. I have one shoe on, everything
else is still on my body, and I just start walking.
I started walking away from him and the car. Eventually
they roll like they just didn't know what was going on.
(33:45):
So eventually they rolled the windows down. They say, we
called the cops. Are you okay? And it was a
man and two women, and I was like, no, I'm
not okay, Please do not leave. I'm like, no, I'm
not okay. So I start walking away, and um, I
ended up in that building that I was kind of
not in the building, but like in the perkin light.
Remember I was telling he had this beautiful like landscaping
(34:08):
that kind of thing. Because I was barefoot. So I
walked on this little trashy road like full of rocks
and trash and all that, and then I go on
this you know, beautifully landscaped pine straw and like gorgeous
bushes and all that. So eventually they they speed the
car around and They're like, please get in the car
with us. We called the cops like get in, you know,
(34:28):
so I get I feel like I can trust them.
I getting the car and they tell me, they were
like what happened? Like we didn't know if you had
been shot and you you know what I mean, like
you fell out the car or if he had hit
you and you got out of the car. And I
just told him, I said, listen, he didn't do anything
to me. But I know where that car ride was going.
So I jumped and um they told me. They were like,
(34:50):
we're all parents, you did the right thing. We all
had daughters, et cetera. So kind of the police calm. Yeah,
the police came, Um, what's he still around? No, So
he drove. So remember I'm like trying to I'm just
trying to get out of sight. And the jacket I
(35:11):
had on was yellow, and I remember thinking like I
have to get out of his sight because I have
this yellow jacket on and a white shirt, like he
can see me for a while to go. So that's
why I tried to hurry up and get away. I
started walking through these bushes, you know, all this kind
of stuff, and I got a little like dinning on
my phone, like you've just been dropped off, right your driver,
(35:32):
tip your driver or whatever. So a lot is just
going on. And it wasn't until the next It was
the next day when I went back with the detective
that I realized that he drove away more than a
block away, I'm pretty sure, pulled in an apartment complex
and said that he had dropped me off there. Mm hmm, yeah,
(35:59):
so and that was that was most definitely not the case.
So the cops came. Um and when I first so,
I feel like people have to understand and realize that
I'm not taking any of this lightly and by reporting
(36:19):
it to the police, you know what I mean. And
when when I was in the car, I was just
so shaken up that I just made a decision to
jump out of the car because I didn't feel right
about the situation and I didn't think it was going
somewhere well, but he hadn't touched me or anything like that.
So when they were no, you have good like if
(36:42):
nothing's going, if you feel like something that's not right,
you have to So I'm glad that I didn't. But
that night when the police were kind of talking to me,
they were kind of like he was driving slow, so
you jumped out, or like he called you pretty, so
you jumped out. Like they were just kind of handling
me like they didn't really understand instead of like, okay,
(37:06):
she jumped out of a car, let's try and get
everything that we can out of her. Um. So that
even the e m T was really rude to me,
like fussing at me, telling me like, you're not answering me.
This is a yes or no question, like I don't. Yeah,
it was a whole thing. So um, when my friend
(37:27):
finally arrived, Um, you know I told him, I was like,
you know I and even the e m T told
me like, your adrinaline is still up, but listen, tomorrow
you're really gonna be hurt. And so he was like,
do you want to just come back to my house
and I'll drive you back in the morning. I was like, no,
bring me back to my car, like I'm gonna call
(37:48):
my mom like have her have her meet up with me,
like I have to, like I have to go home now.
And um, for like the next about to three days,
I couldn't walk mm hmm, I find right. So like, um,
(38:08):
I mean by the time I had driven myself home.
I was so stiff and locked up. I couldn't get
myself out of my car. That's why I was like,
I have to call my mom, like she's gonna have
to help me because literally I can't. Should help me
up the stairs, let me change my clothes anytime I
want to get out of bed to go to the bathroom, like, mom,
help me, let me do go bad like it was? Yeah,
(38:31):
So what's going on now with it? Like they found
the more they like, so there they are conducting and
investigation and um left fire him. Um they claimed that
they did an investigation, but I also think you just
kind of have to see it for what it is
that Um, they have been partive. So yes, I so
(38:57):
I called and reported it immediately, Um, and they got
back to me. But you know how they outsourced, like
how companies outsourced customer service, So they didn't get back
to me until that Monday. You know, so I made
the claim. The claim had to come into the United
States and then you know, we had to get back
on regular business work day. So, um, they called me
(39:19):
on Monday and the lady was very nice and UM,
she was telling me, you know, we're gonna take this seriously.
We're gonna investigate da da da da da da. And
by by that Tuesday or Wednesday, it might have been
Tuesday end the day Monday. It was very quickly before
they had decided that they were going to fire him
(39:41):
and you know, banned him from the community. Wow, girl,
it's been had anybody found something? Happy? Like? So I
know that people found him on Facebook just because it's
really not it's really not hard to do a Facebook search,
(40:02):
you know what I mean? Um, And so like a
bunch of people were sending me his Facebook like I
found him on Facebook. I found him on Facebook. And
then one Grould messaged me and was like, I found
him on Facebook. And I've just been watching his profile
for the last couple of days and he took his
Facebook down. But there's nothing until the investigation. UM, okay,
(40:22):
let you put like this, If and when they find
probable cause, then charges can be sworn out. M But
it's based solely on that. So there's a chance and
a good chance that because I wasn't hurt, that he
may not be charged with a crime. Mm hmm. So
how have you been doing since since this happened? Because
(40:44):
I can only imagine like, well, I can't imagine how
you feel, but I can't. I can just imagine how
it makes you feel like on a day to day basis,
like it's it's super up and down. There are so
I've done a couple other interviews and kind of thing,
and on days when I do that, I feel like, wow,
like you got your story out, like you might have
(41:05):
helped one other person, And those are really good updates
for me. Then there are other days when I'm you know,
I'm really in pain. So I ended up having some
bone bruising and my neck and back have been in
spasm for the last week or more. Um, So I'm
dealing with the pain. Um. The support has I would
(41:28):
say made a big difference in my healing. Um and
here soon I'm going to be starting some um some
mental health work with mental health professional. Yeah no, I
just um that's how I've been looking at it, like
it is work and I'm going to have to put
(41:49):
this into kind of get the end results that I want.
Those end results are kind of just being freedom, um,
in peace with the situation and not letting this. I
think I'm walking a fine line between being stuck um
in this place of when it happened and in the
(42:10):
pain and you know, the fear and that kind of thing,
and then also and moving forward from that, but then
also realizing that I, because this happened and because I
wasn't quiet about it, I've got a really cool platform
for advocacy now, And how do I move forward and
in my healing and use that platform to the best
(42:32):
of my ability at the same time. Mm hmm. So
that's where I am now. I'm really happy he was
able to share your story on the on the PhD
podcast because I think it's really important, because I mean,
I've even even been times where I went to sleep
in the back gate car, like you just get so
comfortable and you'd be non tired. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, And
(42:54):
then it's like, you know, when people who have been
in situations, it's just like they get victim blame or
they even feel they should never went to sleep, and
they feel like if they're a fault, it's just like
it's not your fault, regardless of what happened, you know
what I'm saying. So I'm glad you did share your
story and even though nothing happened to you, you gotta
trust your gut because I agree. If you probably would
(43:15):
have stay net have a little bit longer, something would
have happened, I know, for a man. And I just
feel like from everything that he said and how he
was handling me, I was handling the car, what street
he chose to go on. I'm sorry, There's just no
way that he had me all the way. He had
me far from my destination. There's no way that he
(43:35):
had me all the way out in. Um it's like
the neighborhood is kind of like a park, so like
this park area in the middle of the night. No,
I'm sorry, No, you cannot. You cannot sell me the
story on the safety in that situation. You just can't. Yeah. Um. Last,
(43:56):
and not least, So, what is um advice she would
give to somebody, like the rare flags I always look
out for, because I think you mentioned a lot of things,
I just want to reiterate it so we can all
be aware. Yeah, well, I would say, Um, the biggest thing,
just period is trusting your good And I feel like
(44:17):
that has just been a whole that that's been the
whole thing. And yes, I noticed some red flags and
that kind of thing, but I needed to have a
convert the combination of all of those things, the precaution
that I took, the red flag that I noticed, and
listening to my gut, if one of those things would
have been off, I have to be honest with myself
(44:37):
and saying that this could be a totally different conversation.
So the precautions that I took I kind of described earlier,
but just kind of bullet point is one that I
don't use my full name on any of any rideshare
apps UM, and I don't use in a picture avatar
at all. But some people are like a profile picture.
(44:59):
But some people have suggested, like I will post a
picture UM with my entire family, I will post a
picture with mixed groups. One girl was like, I posted
a picture of my boyfriend, and that's just what it is,
you know what I mean. So that's something to think about.
Always checking the license plate of the car, because, like
(45:19):
we talked about the scanners, you just want to make
sure that that car matches with the rideshare app so
that God forbid something like this happened to you, they
can find that person UM not I sat in the
front seat. If you don't feel comfortable with that, you
know you need to trust your bed on that you
need to make your own decision on that. But never
(45:40):
letting your driver handle your back doors, um, because I
can activate the child law. And then um, Finally, the
last thing was just kind of like it's the last
two things. Is never like oblige any driver's requests if
they ask you to do something, unless it's stop kicking
in the back of my seat, you know what I mean,
(46:03):
Then then you don't need to do it. Um. And
just anything else that you feel like it's a red
flagger that makes you uncomfortable, then you need to make
note of that and just pay attention you know, writing alert,
not being on your phone that kind of thing, and
just pay attention to where the ride is progressing. And
sharing your ride with your family and friends. Yep, yep,
(46:25):
that is something that I do, just sharing your location. Um.
Ever since this happened, Um, I just like everybody else
in the world, have a thousand group messages on my
phone and one of my friends is a flight attendant
and she'll send it in a big group where one
of us is up at the time, and she was
like the last time she DIDs, hey guys, I'm writing
(46:48):
this night. Shuttle by myself. I'd like to share my
location with you. Okay, we're watching you. Let us know
when you make it. Okay, I made it cool, you
know what I mean? M hm. So that little, that
little precaution alone could cut down on the time it notices,
down on the time that it takes for someone to
(47:09):
notice that something has happened to her. She can't speak
for herself, right, all right, I'm like, really, I'm not
gonna say excited, but I'm really like, I'm really thinking
a good word. Well, I'm no, I'm really more so
thankful because it's just like, you know, I don't know
ever since I started doing this platform, and I'm just
(47:30):
learning so much and means so many different people and
learning hearing about their experiences and like it's really like
it really like GRIBs make my blood boiled because men
or not many big people just take advantage of women.
Man's existing. I'm paying, yeah, and I'm paying for a service,
and it's like I shouldn't know when I feel uncomfortable
(47:52):
and it's like why are you? Why are you doing
it at two or three o'clock in the morning, like
and it could have been something so worse. I'm really
thankful that you're sharing your experience and you know, I
know you would get through this. So I want to
keep in contact with you and then from my gifts
from my listeners. If you have any questions for my guests,
please make sure you email me hello at the professional
homegoirth dot com because I think we need to all
(48:12):
share these stories and share experience that we can know
what to look for because some people don't know. Yes,
I and some people are trusting. Oh yeah, we all
have that friend who's just really nice or you know whatever, UM,
and I totally agree with you that getting the word
out is and one of the few things that I
can do, and I appreciate you having me on. I
(48:34):
would like to say, if you don't mind, UM, that
since it's been happening, I've been seriously considering, you know,
talking to LIFT about some things that they can do
to make the app safer And if anyone would like
to share with me any um. You know, it's power
in numbers, and if anyone would like to be a
part of that, I would like to share a negative
experience they've had with left UM. I'd love to hear it. Yes,
(48:55):
please email me. I would gladly connect you'all because we
need to and how a rack can help you, because
we need to gotta get better. Ye A hundred and
three Uber drivers and eighteen Left drivers. That's that's too
me that's been accused of us all. It should be
none at all. If anything, you trus should get and
be abart y'all until next time later
Host
Eboné Almon
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