The Uber Taxi Driver.

Last week my Daughter Meghan went out with her friend Pippa, Meghan had taken ages getting ready and looked stunning! I have on my mobile the app Life360 and Meghan has it on her mobile too. It was her idea to set them up when I’d heard about it at work. Wherever she is in the U.K. I can see where she is and can see how much power she has left on her mobile, if she is on a train or in a taxi, I can see what speed it is going it shows what time she arrives at work and what time she arrives at her flat. When Meghan is at home, it shows me what time she came home. Everything I can see on my mobile, Meghan can see the same info on her mobile about me. I love it, it gives me peace of mind.

Meghan does not look her age, she is a tiny size 6 and looks like she is still at school, hence she has to show her ID when she goes out or if she buys alcohol. She always takes her ID with her and her phone battery charger, for even though she may have left the home with a fully charged mobile, it’s surprising just how quickly it can go down to 18%! I could see where she was, and when I noticed that her phone needed charging, for it gave me a notification, I reminded her to charge her phone. It was getting late and I was tired, I can’t really relax when she is out, and with Pippa she tends to come back far too late for my liking! Once she came home at 04.30am, it was impossible for me to stay up that late so on that occasion, I succumbed and went to bed at 03.00am.

In the past I used to say to her, “Don’t let anyone buy you a drink and don’t leave your drink unattended, unless your friend is watching it.” And each time she goes out with friends and will be coming back late, I always wished I’d set up a code text, for if she was to be in trouble, but to date I’ve not done it, I do think it’s a great idea to have in advance a code text or word that can be spoken or put in a text so if someone is looking at her texting me, or listening to her talk to me on the phone that they will not know she has let me know she is in trouble and needs my help or for me to let the police go to her aid.

Thankfully Meghan has never been drunk, but what I secretly do, to make sure she is OK, is just before I go up to bed is I text her with the words, “Goodnight Meghan, love you,” Always within less than a minute she will reply, “Love you too Mom, Goodnight.” That quick reply gives me some reassurance, that she is ‘safe’ and well, for she is not safe until she is in the house.

So, 01.30am came and went, 02.30am came and went, it was now 03.00am I was shattered so I did my customary, “Goodnight,” And Meghan replied hers. I went up to bed, Paul was still downstairs doing is artwork. I must have fallen asleep for the next thing I knew, Paul nudged me and said, “Meghan has just arrived home but I didn’t hear a car.” I replied, “Are you sure?” He said, “Yes,” So, I decided to get up and investigate. Paul asked when I got out of bed, “Where you going?” I replied, “I’m going to ask her why no car was heard when she arrived home,” I went downstairs and Meghan was in the Living room. She said, “What you doing up Mom?” I said, “Paul has told me when you came home no car was heard, how come?” She said, “I don’t want to talk about it, the taxi driver dropped me off at the bottom of the road,” I said, “It’s very dangerous to walk on the streets at 03.30am!” Meghan was in no mood to talk, and put her hand up so I saw her palm and said, “Mom, I’m going to bed, goodnight.” I was livid and went upstairs and told Paul, he was even more lived and said, “Surely taxis have a duty of care to make sure girls and women are dropped off outside a home and not just in the middle of nowhere?” I was speechless and now too angry to sleep, I kept playing over and over horrid scenarios in my head. One of my final thoughts before I went to sleep was, “Thank God she is home safe and well.”

The next morning, I decided to be gentle as I needed more information than what she’d given me hours before. So, I said, “How come you were dropped off at the bottom of the street?” She said, with Uber she had tried to book the taxi, but was unable to so Pippa did it. Then before I knew it, the taxi had gone past my street, I asked him, “Please can you stop here and let me out, he’d gone past our street and I walk home from there.” I said, “But couldn’t you simply ask him to drive you to the door, a few more seconds in the taxi would not have hurt him?” Meghan then went on to explain, “Because Pippa had booked the taxi, the taxi was taking her home first and them me,” I said, “Well how daft is that!” And went on, “So the idiot was going to past your road to drive five miles to Pippa’s home and then turn around and drive five miles back to drop you off?” How stupid is that!!!! I was furious. She replied, “Yes, I was tired and didn’t want to be in the car with him on my own.” I said, “You’d be safer with him in the car on your own, did you see anyone on the road when you were walking?” She said, “No.” I said, “Things could have been very different if you’d met one person, for some people are opportunist.”

At work I told a few people and they have all said the same thing, “You should report him,” I said, “He knows both their addresses, so for that reason I can’t.”

Later on, when Pippa woke up, she told Meghan, “After you were dropped off, the taxi driver shouted at me and told me off, as he didn’t want to stop there.” She went on, “I gave him a feedback of one star.”