LA woman tells dealership to check her glove box for registration, then realizes she’s probably in the work group chat: ‘I’m a woman in crisis’

Safiya Darling says that she doesn’t embarrass easily, which is likely something she needs in her career as a sex educator. A recent interaction at her car dealership, however, proved to be the kind of moment that got to the Los Angeles resident, so she took to her socials to own it, and her embarrassment already has over 52K views.  Darling, who posts as sexpositivesafiya on Instagram and spsafiya on TikTok, opened her video by telling viewers, “I’m a woman in crisis.”

Safiya explained her version of the situation, saying, “I dropped my car off at the dealership because it has a recall and you get some recall stuff done.” She claimed that they called her to say that the repairs were going to be more extensive than earlier anticipated. When they allegedly asked for her registration, she pointed them to her glovebox. She told them, “Feel free to go ahead and retrieve it.” Safiya noted that it went smoothly. They found her registration. 

The problem was what else they found. She sheepishly told her viewers, “But along with the registration, they found my emergency toilet paper. As you should always have. Found my emergency stash of straws, because, you know, you be drinking and driving… like like like a little water, like a water. I’m messy, so I, I need a straw for my bottle of water, or it ends up dribbling down everywhere.” She then became visibly mortified and, after some hesitation, quickly showed the camera a vibrator.

“Oh my god. Oh my god. I don’t know how… How am I supposed to show my face there again?” Safiya added some fun edits to her video to really highlight how embarrassed she was. She speculated to her viewers, “I have to drop this car off to finish the repair in like two days, and I… I am now. I am now the woman in their work group chat thread who had the battery-operated bedroom device in her glove box.” 

Safiya added a little bit of a humorous addition as she closed out her video, still mortified. “I am that woman. And they don’t know what I do. They don’t know that, you know, oh my God, this is so…I don’t embarrass very easily. This is embarrassing. This is embarrassing.”

According to the comments, she isn’t the only one

Her community found the situation hilarious, but she also got a lot of comforting words from her viewers. One Instagram user claimed, “Dealership technician here…… i see sex toys in the glove box a lot more than you’d think. It’s why I always wear gloves when going into someone’s glove box.” 

Another commenter offered a creative spin to help her feel better, saying, “It’s an emergency mood stabilizer device! Legit! Requires no registration or license to carry!” One TikToker agreed, writing, “What do you mean? They just found your back massager. You’ve been looking for that since last week when you pulled your back doing yoga last week! Give them a thank you card.”

Many others shared their own mortifying stories. One user wrote, “One time getting my oil changed my very spicy audiobook stayed playing after they turned on the car. I had no idea because I was reading on my ereader. Anyway I guess they liked the book because they also washed and detailed my car for free. Something they have never done in all the years I took that car there.”

Other users offered practical advice on how to get over the embarrassment. One suggested, “Take them a box of donuts so you won’t be remembered as vibrator lady.” One TikToker joked, “Giiiirrrrrrlllllll! I would have on sunglasses and a hoodie to drop off. And say I’m my sister.” 

According to Verywell Mind, embarrassment feels so terrible because it strikes at a person’s sense of social identity and self-esteem. Tatiana Rivera Cruz, MSW, LCSW, a therapist at ADHDAdvisor, notes that the physical sensations associated with embarrassment, such as blushing or sweating, can further intensify the discomfort. It can then create a cycle of self-consciousness and heightened anxiety as people spiral to fix the situation, potentially making it worse. 

Verywell Mind also cited clinical psychologist Aimee Daramus, PsyD, of Clarity Clinic in Chicago, who points out that every adult has seriously embarrassed themselves at some point. According to the site, laughing it off, turning the moment into a funny story, or remembering that most people are too caught up in their own lives to dwell on it can help people move past the embarrassment.