Delivery story 369 AKJeepers writes: I've been delivering now for a little over two years for Pizza Hut in Anchorage, AK. The store I work for delivers to the "rich" side of town. The higher up the mountain, the richer they are. There is one trailer park in our range and some lower income neighborhoods. Needless to say, the winters are long and the summers are referred to as road construction season, which always makes for interesting driving conditions. One of my favorite delivery stories took place at a new subdivision being built towards the top of the mountain. To get there you have to drive up this crappy, steep, dirt road which at one point has a sharp bend. Summertime, no problem. Just about any driver can get there. But in the winter, typically it is only myself or one other driver that has the vehicle that can make it up the road (and back down) without going off into the trees and possibly through someone's house. (Stupid rich folk like to perch on the side of the mountains like a billy goat.) At the time of this story, my other job was dispatching for a tow company. (It plays into the story.) This customer has (count them) two 3-car garages on different levels of his house. Usually it is the kids ordering pizzas and always a $2.00 tip. Not to sound greedy, but I burn more gas than that getting to the house! Everybody dreaded taking deliveries there! One night I got a call from the tow yard. One of my drivers was lost on the hillside and *SURPRISE* the driver was delivering a custom $40,000 Mustang to this guy! Me being me, I went to lead the way. This was on one of those rare winter nights where it warmed up enough that we were getting rain. Which means glare ice, which means... you guessed it! Very slippery conditions! After spending approximately an hour trying to get the slideback into his ridiculously narrow driveway (which wasn't sanded) and almost having the stupid 2x4 tow truck (don't ask why any tow company in Alaska wouldn't have 4x4 trucks) slide off the side of the mountain a couple of times (once almost over me) the owner comes out of the house to supervise as we FINALLY offload his vehicle. As we stand in the freezing cold rain, he comments that I look familiar. I, of course, fess up that I have delivered his pizzas on numerous occasions. After a few minutes of silence, he asks about the tips I've gotten from him and his kids. At first I wasn't going to say anything, but my mouth got the better of me. I explained to him the fact that he lives on the side of a mountain, how much gas it takes to get to his place, the small fact that I am 1 of only 2 drivers that can get up to his place during long winters, and how much the IRS takes out of my check. (They tax 8% of the sale. Guess they think everybody tips!) I guess he actually stopped to think about it, or maybe he thought I looked completely pitiful drenched in freezing rain, not on any company clock (Yes, dummy me was doing this for free) and pushing his precious car into his nice heated garage, cause our conversation never made it back to either place of employment. Now I'm happy to report, the tips are never under $5.00 and often more when the road is in bad condition! Not just for me either, the other driver gets the good tips from this house, too! Now we are happy to risk our vehicles and miss out on other orders to deliver to him. I also love idiots that don't know their own address. Today I took one to... lets say 1840 Congress #1. I heft the $70 order up two flights of stairs only to discover... it's a wrong address! I wobble my fat butt back down the stairs (couldn't see over the pizzas) trying to carefully feel my way, so I don't trip and fall. I call the customer, from my cellphone, who insists that I must be lost. (Why is it always the delivery person’s fault? This is my livelihood. I invest in it by using a GPS and carry a map book!) I assure him that I am standing in front of 1840 Congress and that the lady in #1 did not order and does not know who he is (name on the ticket.) In a huff, he finally agrees to look out his front door to see if he can see me. LOL. I'll give him this... at least he was close on his belief of what his address was. 1841 Congress #1. Since it was just across the street, his pizzas went for a short ride on the hood of my jeep :-) His girlfriend was on the couch and had witnessed this entire embarrassing conversation (for him) and I'm sure had razzed him about a girl being right. I keep reassuring him that this kind of thing happens to all of us at one time or another, shared an embarrassing story of my own when I thought I was right (and wasn’t) and left with a $20 tip for my trouble. I also love it when the customer is sitting outside waiting (summer only) and they loudly announce to their spouse, or friends, as I drive up, The PIZZA MAN is here! Only to be presented with a female driver! One lady got so embarrassed that she ran into the house and hid! I've gotten some good laughs at that one! Finally, why is it when guys come to the door, they always act like they never have seen boobs before? I've walked away with some good tips because the guy was so busy staring at my completely covered chest that they couldn't count or decide how much change they wanted back! return to top