My ability to make money has been taken from me

Hello. My name is Serena. You may know me as the person who runs FNAF Alerts on Twitter. I don’t talk about my personal life much, but I drive for Uber for a living. (It’s the best-paying job I’m able to do and I still live paycheck-to-paycheck.) Right now, when my rent is due in three days, my account was disabled simply because one person reported that my car smelled like marijuana. And according to Uber Support, my only source of income will now be blocked for up to ten days while they “investigate” the situation.

You may think this investigation would involve having an employee check my vehicle, or perhaps have me take a drug test. But no, to my understanding, the only things they do is ask the person who reported me for details, and then get my side of the story. Then, they will base their decision entirely on that, no actual evidence or anything. I could lose my job forever if this investigator just decides to believe the other party over me. And the only thing I can do about it is sit and wait to find out what conclusion they reach. And once they do, that’s it, as far as I know there is no way to contest your account being permanently blocked once it happens.

You’re probably wondering “Well, why did your car smell like marijuana?” The answer is pretty obvious I think. One of the people I gave a ride to last night was acting really weird. He was chuckling after every sentence he said, and kept repeating things he’d already said, rambling about the video games he used to play. He also cut me off almost every time I attempted to respond. I didn’t think much of it at the time, it was past midnight and I’d been working for nearly eight hours straight, so I didn’t think anything more than “This guy is kinda odd.”

He had a weird smell to him I didn’t recognize, but I assumed it was just bad breath or body odor or something. I get LOTS of weird smells from my customers. How was I supposed to know that this specific scent was that of marijuana? I’ve never smelled it before. And even if I did recognize it, it’s not like that’s my fault. Surely this type of thing happens all the time. Whenever someone leaves a smell in my car, I drive with the windows open for a bit to get it out. But my sense of smell is very bad, so if there’s a very subtle, lingering scent, I probably wouldn’t notice.

My point is, even if an Uber Driver’s car did in fact smell like marijuana for another customer, that shouldn’t be enough for them to get their account disabled. We drive so many people around, all sorts of scents are bound to linger in our cars. It isn’t fair for us to be suspended, and possibly terminated, just because one of those people was smoking weed. At the very least, a report like this should also require the driver have simultaneously been driving erratically and recklessly when the scent was smelled. Probably base it on the way the driver spoke, too. An odor being all it takes is, frankly, ridiculous.

By the way, I feel it’s worth noting that I have never and will never smoke anything. No cigarettes, no vapes, no weed. I don’t care how enjoyable it is, I’m terrified of the repercussions doing so would have on me. I’m also terrified of breaking the law. Ask any of my friends, they’ll tell you the lengths I got to to avoid piracy of video games, movies, or TV shows, and how I never jaywalk, speed, or commit any other frequently ignored law. I know the chances of getting in trouble for it are extremely low. (I even admit that, in the case of piracy, it’s sometimes the morally correct option). But I still personally don’t, because it’s illegal and I’m scared of breaking the law. That same logic applies to smoking weed, which as I said, is illegal in my state. I’d never so much as think about doing it, even at home.

If I lose this job, finding another one will be very difficult. My feet have always had issues. For as long as I can remember, they have started to ache after just a few hours of standing/walking. They have an irregular arch to them, and they naturally point outwards when at rest. A while ago, I had an experimental surgery done of them to attempt to correct this, but they had no noticeable change on my right foot, and permanently hindered my left. It is extremely susceptible to pain and always feels like it’s partially asleep, and I cannot swivel it to the left or right like I can with my right foot to use my car’s pedals. (Thank goodness this didn’t happen to my right foot too, or I wouldn’t be able to drive at all, and Uber wouldn’t be a job option for me either.) That last thing doesn’t actually affect much from what I can tell, but it’s the only way to really visualize how messed up it is.

Basically, my career options are limited to ones where I can spend most of the time sitting. Any full time job that requires me to be standing most of the time eventually causes me to experience a gradually worsening ache that leads to a hinderance in my ability to walk or stay focused on work. Subjecting myself to this for eight hours a day for two or three days in a row causes my left foot to completely give out on me, sending a searing pain all throughout it and even partially up the leg. This has only happened twice, and both times, I couldn’t walk at all for the next two days. That’s why losing this job would be such a big deal, finding another one that falls within this major limitation and pays enough to cover my cost of living (which includes two other mouths to feed) will be a genuine challenge.

By the way, I can’t move to Lyft. They for some reason require their drivers to be at least 25 years old, so that won’t be an option for me for another two and a half years. That would be a really convenient solution, and I would absolutely do it if I could, but it just isn’t an option. Uber’s age requirement is only 21, if you’re wondering. I’ve been working for them pretty much since the moment I could. I’ve driven nearly 2,000 rides just in the past year. You’d think this report being literally 1/2000 would be enough to just immediately dismiss it, but nope. They’re required to take this precaution regardless of the driver’s standing.

I’ve created this fundraiser just to try to at least make enough to pay my rent this month. I will begin searching for another job, just in case, but even if I found work tomorrow, I still wouldn’t be paid fast enough to cover it. I can’t instantly cash out what I’ve made so far with most jobs like I can with Uber. I’d need to wait for my first check, which could take up to three weeks. I wouldn’t make this type of thing if I didn’t need to, I hate asking others for help, because I believe there are several people out there who are far worse off than me who deserve this kind of support more than I do. But this is a really bad situation for me and I’m not sure what other options I have. Thank you for reading, and for your support.