RamRide Confessionals: Safe ride program sees it all
With more than 5,000 rides in its first semester of operation
and an even greater volume anticipated for the future, RamRide
contributes to the general safety of CSU’s students as well as
contributing a good laugh for those who find time to volunteer to
drive.
“I’m glad to see that so many students are taking advantage of
this program,” said Ben Goldstein, a senior political science major
and ASCSU’s director of student services. “RamRide offers people a
safe ride home and as a driver or navigator, you get to see a lot
of interesting things.”
Halloween night was especially memorable for RamRide drivers due
the unique appearances of the passengers.
“When people call for a ride, we ask them to describe what they
look like so it’s easier to find them,” Goldstein said. “On
Halloween, this one girl simply said, ‘I’m a slut tonight,’ so we
had to drive around looking for someone fitting that
description.”
RamRide also came to the aid of a confused Winnie the Pooh, a
drunken Chipotle Burrito and countless other graceless fools,
aimlessly attempting to track their way homeward that evening. But
don’t be fooled into thinking that the hilarity only happens with
costumes present; funny incidents occur all the time.
“It was our last call of the night,” said Todd Gaines, senior
soil and crop science major. “We picked up these six guys and they
were really messed up. Right when we started moving, I looked back
and saw that this guy was strangling his friend with a seatbelt.
They were all wrestling each other in the back. When we got to the
main roads, they decided to roll down the windows and started
cursing at other cars … I was so glad when we finally got them
home and it was just in time. The second they stepped out of the
van, they got sick right there in the street.”
And it’s not only the men of CSU now forever ingrained in
unclouded memory banks of our unspoiled RamRide operators. The
ladies can get a little crazy, too.
“We drove this car full of girls back to their home,” said Tom
Lesavage, senior marketing major. “They must have felt the urge to
tip us excessively because they took out all this cash from their
purses. They had been out drinking and they were laughing and
dancing the whole car ride home. They were in a generous mood I
guess because when we parked, they were throwing all these $20
bills up at us like it was nothing. We aren’t supposed to accept
any money so I gave it all back. I’m sure that those girls would
have been upset if they realized, the next day, that they had
dropped all that money trying to pay for their free ride home.”
Moments that Mom and Dad wouldn’t approve of aren’t the only
things that the back seats of RamRide have spawned. Sometimes those
Febreeze-scented vans act as a meeting place for romance.
“We have one volunteer who met her boyfriend one night while
driving. She picked up this guy when he needed RamRide and they’ve
been together since then,” Goldstein said.
Looks like the intelligence to avoid the dreaded DUI landed that
man a keeper, but other men have attempted to use RamRide as a
channel of romantic promise with less rewarding outcomes.
“Sometimes guys will call in for a ride and end up trying to hit
on our phone operators,” Goldstein said. “There was one guy who
called back like six times just trying to keep talking with the
operator. He was making up fake excuses to keep calling.”
Not all attempts of RamRide commuters trying to see a little
action have been thwarted. The occasional quick peak at some
bizarre exhibitionism has been known to either enhance or horrify a
few lucky passengers.
“We once had this freshman guy as a navigator,” said Katie
Clausen, junior business management major. “He was a pretty
innocent kid … this woman in the back was wearing this really
short skirt and nothing underneath it. When he leaned over the seat
to have her sign the waiver, he got a view that he wasn’t prepared
for.”
Crotch shots aren’t the most shocking scene to have befallen a
RamRide vehicle. One carload became witnesses to a sight that left
very little to the imagination.
“We picked up these three guys way out by Overland one night at
like 3 a.m.,” said Audrey Fisher, a junior English education major.
“Out in the middle of nowhere, we passed this couple who were
having sex in plain view of everyone. They were just laying there
right on the sidewalk. We passed them so quick that we weren’t sure
if we had really seen what we thought we saw. The guys in the back
were laughing their asses off and they were yelling for us to go
back so we could look again. They talked our driver into circling
around the block for another look. When we did, the guys were all
freaking out and yelling. They were really happy about seeing that
I guess. They probably thought that it was the best ride home
ever.”
No wonder RamRide is being used by so many. The ride home just
may be the most memorable part of the night. So don’t risk driving
around when you’re in need of a safe ride because the good folks
with the RamRide program are willing and able to get you home in
one piece. Plus, they’ll even listen to the impaired gibberish that
pours from your mouth without judging you too harshly.
RamRide operates every Friday and Saturday from 10 p.m. to 3
a.m. and picks up an average of 200 passengers each night free of
charge. To use RamRide, call 491-3333 and be sure that one person
in the vehicle is a CSU student with student ID.
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