An Uber passenger was shocked when the driver told her she had to speak English in his car.
The incident occurred in Perth last month when a Colombian visitor claimed the male Uber driver said she can only speak English in and not her native Spanish.
TikToker Alejandra shared part of the interaction with the driver in a post titled ‘When the Uber driver tells me if I’m in I HAVE to talk just English.’
In the video she is in the backseat of the car talking to the driver and said she was on the phone to her friend.
She defended herself, saying: ‘This is our language. Spanish is my language, and I will always speak Spanish if I want. Even if I’m here in .’
The reply of the male Uber driver was not clear in the video.
‘What I’m saying is, show respect. I’m talking with my friend, personal things, and I shouldn’t be thinking, “Oh maybe I can talk in English so he can hear all the gossip”,’ Alejandra said.
The driver defended his point of view, but again his reply was not clear.
Alejandra said, ‘(Speaking Spanish) is my thing,’ and told the driver, ‘we’re not making fun of you.’
‘We don’t care. We are just talking about our personal things, our personal life, so I don’t understand what is the problem.’
The Uber driver finally admitted he was in the wrong, telling her: ‘Okay, I’m sorry. I apologise.’
The rideshare driver’s actions were brutally assessed by TikTok users.
‘F*** off. She is speaking with her friend and she can speak whatever f*****n language she likes. Who the hell are you to say what language she speaks?’ one viewer said.
‘I’m wondering what language he speaks when travelling to non-English speaker countries?’ said another.
‘But I am sure that uber driver would never talk Spanish if he comes on holidays here. English speakers are sooo selfish.’
Another said the driver should be reported: ‘You can report him on Uber for his behaviour, you can still after weeks or months later.’
One reply attacked Alejandra: ‘The problem is your (sic) from Colombia and these South Americans always so loud and uneducated. Please educate yourself first.’
To which she responded: ‘Funny. You’re telling me to educate myself first while you’re discriminating not just my country but also all of the South American countries?’