Recently, a thirsty Didi Chuxing passenger in Shanghai took a swig from a water bottle in the car he was riding in, only to quickly discover that what he just drank was not water.
The passenger, surnamed Sun, hailed a ride one night using Didi’s premier service. Sun told reporters that he had used the company’s premier service before and knew that it provided passengers with accompaniments like beverages for the ride, so he thought nothing of snatching a water bottle from a drink holder in the vehicle’s center console.
However, after one gulp, Sun realized that he was not drinking pure H20, but water mixed with pee.
Afterward, the driver begged Sun not to file a complaint against him, explaining that it would cost him his job, instead offering to settle the matter privately through a cash payment.
But those pleas apparently fell on deaf ears. Didi has since publicly apologized for one of its passengers inadvertently drinking piss, stating that the driver had been unable to find a bathroom and decided to save time by peeing in the water bottle inside his car, carelessly placing the bottle back into the drink holder afterward.
As he had predicted, the driver has indeed been fired. Here’s Didi’s official statement:
“We apologize for this unfortunate incident as well, and are taking both passenger and driver for physical check-ups. The driver has been suspended from service. A Toilet Locator is built in DiDi’s driver app (as shown in the screenshot) and everyday over 30 thousand drivers use it. We will continue to upgrade and expand the Locator with help from our passengers and partners.”
On the bright side, Sun may at least receive some ancillary health benefits. There is a sizable group of people in China who practice so-called “urine therapy,” believing that drinking your own piss can help cure whatever may ail you.