I was talking with a friend about how the day we downloaded the Uber app is the day we decided to stop using our legs and conveniently drain our bank accounts. But she said that because she finishes work at night and her house is a long walk from the train station, Uber is the only way she feels safe.

Someone else asked me whether I sit in the front seat or the back.
I said, The back.
She said, But do you think that’s offensive to the driver? 
I don’t know, I said, I’ve definitely thought about it, but I just feel more comfortable in the back. 
She said, I sit in the front. I don’t want to offend anyone. 

Recently an Uber driver told me about a news story he’d read. It was about a woman who’d been abducted by a taxi driver and killed. As he told it I realised it was the fourth time a driver had told me a similar story. I wasn’t sure if his point was that Ubers were safer than taxis. I wasn’t sure if he had a point at all, he just thought it was an interesting story.

Each time they were unaware of me shifting, not-so-comfortably in the back seat. Each time they didn’t see me hold my phone tighter and reach subtly for the door handle. Each time I gave them five stars anyway.

The last thing I want to do is offend.

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A version of this post was sent by email on the 16th September 2018 as part of Internet Care Package.

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