Image by crylov via FlickrI am a little bit on the sore side today, due to my part time job as a pizza delivery guys. It isn't so much that the job was that strenuous or that it was unusually busy this past weekend to make me sore. It is because I took a bit of a spill last night.I was making a delivery last night at an apartment complex. The outside area was not very well lit. As I was coming down the steps to head back to my car, I missed a step and fell to the ground, landing on my shoulder and shin. No real damage other than being sore today and some dirty clothes. Pizza guys hate delivering to areas that aren't well lit.
I am not sure why, but there seemed to be an unusually high number of houses last night that did not have their outdoor lights on. First, by not having the outside lights on, it makes it that much harder for the delivery driver to find your house. Second, and more importantly, there is the safety issue. If we show up at a dark house, especially both outside and inside, it gives us pause.
I also do not understand people who order a pizza, and are not there when you show up with a delivery. Most nights, I never have to use my cell phone to try to contact a customer because nobody is answering the door. Last night I had to do it twice. The first call was to a woman who was in her car. She told me her son was inside playing video games so she would call him to answer the door.
The second call that I had to make was to one of those dark houses that I alluded to earlier. I showed up at a townhouse that had no lights on outside or inside. I walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. No answer, so I knocked, at least two times. I called the phone number on the receipt, and it went straight to voice mail so I left a message. Two hours later, he called the store to say that I never rang the bell. WTF!
One of the reasons that I was particularly sensitive to dark houses last night is that a pizza delivery driver was shot and killed in the DC area last week. The delivery area that we have is not as bad a neighborhood as the driver that was shot, though we do have one apartment complex that we deliver to where a couple drivers have been robbed. I get a little antsy whenever I have to take a run over to that complex, especially if it is dark out.
As I mentioned in my post yesterday, our financial situation is better than it was when I first started delivering pizzas. Unfortunately, it is not so much better that I can afford to quit the delivery job quite yet, especially with the price of energy and food rising so much in recent days. I am hopeful that my wife will soon be able to start substitute teaching again, but they are not currently taking applications until the next school year. That would help a lot.
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