I don’t plan on delivering forever. Thus, I have a Pizza Delivery bucket list. I didn’t come up with it before I started delivering. The crazy stories I have heard and the crazier people I have met and worked with have spawned it. Here it is, in no particular order:
- Receive a $100 tip.
- Receive a non-money money tip, such as a gift card or a coupon for something.
- Deliver to the same customer as another pizza company.
- Have an order so big, it takes two trips.
- Have a customer call in a compliment on my service.
Last night, I got to cross one off the list.
I don’t work Tuesday nights on a regular basis. I talked to Cap’n about switching this week’s Wednesday shift for Tuesday. Amazewife had a Church engagement.
She worked it out for me. I joined the team and delivered till 9 PM.
My last delivery was to a familiar apartment complex. It towers above the Old Market just off of Jones St. I was the only delivery vehicle there. I parked my car creatively, threw on my hazards and called the customer.
Those apartment complexes are double-entry protected. There’s a main door to the outside, then a door with a call box. They take a code. I asked the customer if he had a code for me or if I should wait downstairs. He let me know the code but encouraged me to wait, that he would be downstairs in a few minutes. I agreed to.
Several minutes later, a man stepped into the lobby. Judging by the lack of blinking, quick pace and what might have been the reflection of saliva at the corner of his mouth – all tell-tale signs of having ordered and waited for pizza – I figured he was my customer.
He was. I handed him my super-awesome, customer complemented clipboard with its new minion and princess stickers and let him know where to sign. I took the food out while he did so. When he was finished, he reached into a pocket and grabbed some folded dollars.
No, it wasn’t $100.
He put the folded bills on the clipboard and gave it back. I thanked him very much, handed over his pizza, and told him to enjoy it. He thanked me, assured me that he would and we parted ways.
I drove back to the pizza store and parked. I walked in. It was pretty slow. The manager and a coworker were on two of the phones. The music wasn’t very loud. Felt low-key.
I stepped into the back of the house and put my bag up. Then I stepped up to the computer to get myself back in line. At just that moment, the manager hung up the phone and plopped a receipt down on the keyboard. It was Leff-tenant.
“RI,” he said, “It is very rare that I ever get complimentary calls from customers for my drivers. Thank you for such a job well done. Keep it up.”
I looked at the receipt. He had jotted down the words from the customer. “Very nice, Amazing job, keep up the good work.”
I thanked him profusely for telling me about it. I let him know it made my night. He said it made his, too. I felt good! I ordered a treat for Amazewife and I to celebrate and went home shortly thereafter.
I’ve made a lot of mistakes. They’ve been on my mind. I’ve taken out debt to buy things I thought I needed but didn’t. I’ve forgotten things. I’ve said things that I really shouldn’t have said.
I still make a lot of those same mistakes, but I thank God there’s a Way out. Jesus is the way out of our mistakes, not pizza delivery, but I think he works with a lot of different situations differently.
I am so grateful for this pizza job. It is the physical manifestation of my internal commitment to work through my money mistakes and use money like God wants me to.
It made more than just my night to cross that item off the Bucket List. It made me feel grateful. It made me feel like it’s not all drudgery; it made me feel like the time I’m spending is making a positive difference for a lot more people than I thought.
It’s all just so intense.
ROE INTENSE
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