For the past 5 months or so, I have been delivering for a food delivery company. My son started first, thrilled with the idea that he could just work when he wanted to. When he began, the company was just starting to infiltrate the St. Louis market. They offered an incentive if he got a friend to sign on, and make 200 "dashes" in 50 days, he would earn an extra $1000. I'm that friend. I figured if there was any chance we would see repayment for the car "he" bought, it was that $1000. He lasted just a couple weeks at the job (He never seemed to have cash for gas), but I completed the appropriate number of runs, got $1000 towards his car, and have continued to dash. (If any of you are interested in Door Dash, I can send you a link...the incentive is no longer as high, but hey, I could use the bonus!)
Every day I dash, I have at least one adventure. There was the time I had a dash from a restaurant by the ballpark. Just as the game was letting out. And there was a 'street fair' in a park. right by the ball park. Roads turning left (towards the restaurant) were closed. And the traffic wasn't moving because of the number of people who had just watched the Cardinals beat the Cubs. 45 minutes later I finally got to the restaurant. By then, they had "thrown the food away" (as well as about 12 other orders) because it was long since cold.
The very next day I had to go to a restaurant in BallPark Village. As the crowds were arriving for another game. Of course there was no parking anywhere. I made the (perhaps unwise) decision to park in a bus drop off zone, thinking I was only running into the place for a couple minutes to pick up the food. But nope, it hadn't been ordered yet. So I had to place the order and then wait for it to be ready. when I returned to my car about 20 minutes later and hopped in, there was a loud "thump" on the hood...and a police officer standing right there telling me not to move...he had already called for the dogs to sniff my car suspecting it might be a bomb. Yikes! I apologized and promised never to do that again.
Would you believe my very next shift I had to dash down by the ball park again...this time to drop off food...at the ballpark? Who orders food to be delivered to a baseball field an hour before the game (just as all the thousands of fans are arriving)? Grrrrr. It was someone who worked in the gift shop at the stadium. Not wanting to irritate the police, and suspecting there might be a possibility that the same officer from the day before would be working, I parked about a mile away, and hoofed it to BallPark Village.
Fun, right?!
But it is fun. I mostly enjoy myself. When I started I couldn't imagine who would be willing to pay an extra $10 just to have food delivered to their door. I'm way too cheap for that. But it's really all kinds of people. Lots of people, in the city anyway, don't have cars in St. Louis. They rely on the bus to get to work. They walk to local little shops for groceries. And now they can have restaurant food (or Wendy's) delivered to their door. And even with the delivery fee, it's probably cheaper than buying a car.
I've delivered to a new mom, who also had a toddler in the house. I delivered to a blind man. He can't exactly just drive to a restaurant. I've made deliveries to people in wheelchairs. People working shifts at the hospital. And to lots of college students. (who think they can just tell me the name of the residence hall and I'll be able to find them....come on people, I don't go there...I don't know where Jones hall is, or where the clock tower is). I delivered to a mom one Saturday (late morning), who said, "Thanks for letting me be lazy today." It was a thank you I appreciated.
I deliver food from fast food places like Jack in the Box and Wendy's, but also from small mom and pop establishments. I had a conversation with the owner of a Chinese restaurant once while we were waiting for the food to be finished. She was so thankful for a company like ours, because she didn't have to have someone on staff to make what might be just a couple deliveries a night, or a week. I've discovered restaurants I didn't know existed...and lots of ones I want to try. And a couple that are pretty skanky and I really don't want to go back inside again.
I know the city now. Pretty funny that someone who is "directionally dyslexic" has a job that's all about directions. But I'm pretty good at knowing where things are now. And my parallel parking skills are top notch.
A year or two ago I would have described some of these places as "scary neighborhoods," but I no longer think that is true. Some neighborhoods are just a little more tired (or a lot more tired) than others, in need of some TLC. (Please note, I don't do deliveries after dark...some places may still be a little scary at night)
And I've discovered that people can take pride in their homes no matter where they are. One Saturday afternoon I was making a delivery to one of those "tired" streets. This one more tired than most. Most of the houses had boarded up windows, and the lawns were overgrown. then I spotted the house that I knew must belong to my customer: Her front steps were painted a bright orange, and all up the walk, on both sides of the stairs, were some of the most beautiful flowers I've seen. I complimented her on the beautiful yard, and she beamed. And she said, "That's what I've been doing all day...I'm too tired to cook." What a great delivery! I left with a smile in my heart, too.
I've become a lot less judge-y of people. Who am I to question why someone ordered just 2 orders of cheesy fries and a molten lava cake. To each his (or her) own! But are you really so desperate for a Strawberry Lemonade from Wendy's that you're willing to pay an extra $10.00 to have one delivered (and that's the only thing you ordered)? Really?
Okay, still working on that judge-y thing.
And, don't forget to tip your driver!
