An Uber passenger says she looked down during her ride and spotted a portable urinal between her feet, writing ‘I’m going to throw up’

Recently, a Reddit user, katiewyd, took to the Uber subreddit with a simple post that triggered a firestorm of responses. All she wrote was the post title that read, “i’m going to throw up.” Then she attached a photo to the post. It featured a portable urinal for men that seems to have slid out from under the front passenger seat to stop between her feet. 

The resulting reaction featured its fair share of absurd jokes, like a user who wrote, “That’s just taking the piss.” However, two larger conversations erupted. A lot of Redditors reacted with disgust. One user who identified as a driver wrote, “Drivers need to stop grinding and learn when to take breaks. Learn their markets and figure out where the open bathrooms are. It’s not difficult to do.” They argued that some drivers prioritize fares over basic needs, which they described as desperate behavior.

Along similar lines, others called the find “disgusting,” with one customer noting, “I’ve gotten right back out of an Uber for less,” and another writing, “I’d report them. This is pretty disgusting.” There were some commenters who tried to give the driver the benefit of the doubt, with one user asking, “Why u assume the driver left that?” The second conversation highlighted the difficult reality of finding restrooms while working on the road.

Public restrooms are growing increasingly scarce

One Redditor laid out the situation for the community. They wrote that while the pictured behavior is gross, some markets have “ZERO” restrooms available after certain hours, and that staff at restaurants and hotels will even threaten to get the police involved. They pointed out that as a result of the post-pandemic homelessness and mental health problems, “the common amenity known as the restroom has slowly disappeared.” As a result, workers resort to avoiding water just to keep working.

Finding a place to use the restroom has become a widespread issue in the United States. According to Throne Labs, the U.S. currently ranks number 31 on the World Public Toilet Index. While countries like Australia have 37 public toilets per 100,000 people, the U.S. has only eight.

Throne Labs noted that this scarcity is a relatively modern development. In the 1970s, there were around 50,000 pay toilets across the country, but public campaigns against pay-to-use systems eventually led to many cities removing these facilities entirely. Today, the population has grown significantly, but the number of public restrooms has been cut in half. This leaves limited options for a safe, clean bathroom, but some cities, like New York, are working to fix the shortage.

Despite this, some people believed there were more than enough options out there, and that there was no excuse for the urinal in the car. They pointed to options like gas stations, fast food spots, and airport parking lots as viable options. However, others did note that access to these bathrooms is increasingly dependent on purchases.

Attack of the Fanboy was unable to independently verify the Uber driver’s side of the story, as this account originates solely from katiewyd’s Reddit post.