After months of unemployment following a layoff from a job I loved, I was finally hired as a contractor for a large energy and transportation company. It was one of the most bizarre experiences of my life and it ended badly when my coworker and I were laid off the week before Christmas of last year.
The contract position, which I wrote about in an earlier piece, paid significantly less than my previous position, but I could at least pay the bills (barely). Having exhausted all of my unemployment benefits in my previous layoff, things became very dire in an instant, at no fault of my own. So, I took a call center position just to generate some income.
The call center job was absolute hell. I understand that a job, for most people, is just a means to an end. But it’s simply not within my nature to perform a job where I am completely set up to fail. The training was irrelevant, the customer service tools were outdated and not integrated, the processes and procedures were not clearly defined, the technology constantly failed, and management was ill-equipped to turn things around. And it paid $16/hour. I was offering horrible customer service and made to look like a bumbling idiot. So I quit.
I knew that DoorDash was a popular side hustle, but I always dismissed it as seeming too good to be legitimate. The ability to create your own schedule, get paid to deliver takeout food, and earn more than you would in most “unskilled” jobs just seemed like a scam. But in my desperation, and with dwindling career prospects in an abysmal economy and job market, I decided that I had nothing to lose by giving it a try.
I’ve turned DoorDash into my primary source of income. It doesn’t allow me to pay every monthly bill, but even with the ridiculous price of gas and taxes taken into account, I’m earning more than I would at the call enter or most other readily available jobs in my area, including substitute teaching.
And while I’ve been dashing all over town, it occured to me that I had some new perspectives on various topics. It would be selfish to keep them to myself, so here are some random thoughts that have bounced around my brain while strangers’ food bounces in my passenger seat.
Almost all buildings, houses, communities, streets, highways, towns, and cities are poorly marked or not marked at all. I don’t know who needs to hear this, but having your house or building number in large, legible, and prominently displayed numbers is kind of essential when it comes to having anything delivered to your home successfully. I’m surprised that glow-in-the-dark house numbers and street signs aren’t a big thing.
College campuses are the worst. Absolute nightmares to navigate, especially at night. But it shouldn’t come as a surprise that our colleges and universities aren’t putting a lot of thought into “common sense” practices like making things easy to find.
People actually have ice cream delivered. I mean, if you have no other option and you want your ice cream that badly, go for it. But I can tell you that the average DoorDash driver does not have a freezer in their vehicle, and delivery times can vary drastically based on many unforeseen circumstances.
Can we do bottled beverages only for deliveries? My car will never recover from the countless spilled drinks I’ve delivered. Can we just default to bottles for all delivered beverages? Or is that the thing that will push us over the edge when it comes to climate change?
We need real auto care insurance. Much like healthcare, automobile care is absurdly inflated. We’re all mandated to have accident insurance, but what we really need is comprehensive, reasonably affordable (ha!), and easily accessible auto care insurance. Most car warranties are a joke.
I drive around in constant fear that the wear and tear on my vehicle is going to result in thousands of dollars in repairs, and then I’ll truly be fucked. Unless you’re in a city with viable public transportation, your auto body is likely as essential as your physical body, and one problem can be financially devastating.
Trailer parks are a whole other world within a world. I make a lot of deliveries to trailer parkers. Kids actually play with each other. Neighbors congregate and talk. There’s music, cooking, fun, and laughter. Trailer parks might be some of the last real neighborhoods in America, simply because everyone is crammed in there together.
Some stereotypes about tipping feel accurate. I’ll just leave it at that. But I will say that poor people often give the best tips! Trailer park residents tip best.
Earning by task is highly motivating. More than an hourly or salaried role, earning on a “per task” or “per offer” basis is much more motivating and rewarding.
Everyone and their mama don’t want no contact with NOBODY! It is extremely rare that anyone even wants you to ring their doorbell after making a delivery. And if I sit in my car after completing a delivery, people will almost never come outside until I start to drive away. I think it’s just as much about shame as it is about antisocial behavior and social anxiety. Having Auntie Anne’s pretzels delivered to your door at noon just feels like a shame-filled transaction.
We all knew it, but it’s more evident to me now that people are generally very bad at basic communication. For example, if I were having food delivered to me at a business, I’d probably indicate that on my DoorDash order to avoid any confusion. Something along the lines of “I’m in the Verizon store. Please hand it to the front desk.” But, this kind of basic thing almost never happens.
Lots of restaurants think they’re really cute with their “virtual brands.” You’ll get a DoorDash order to pick up food at It’s Just Wings, but GPS takes you to Chilis. What the hell! After a lot of confusion and wasted time, you find out that It’s Just Wings is a “virtual brand” it’s really just Chilis. They could have just told you to go to Chilis. But they don’t. And there are absolutely no signs for It’s Just Wings. It’s just stupid! And a lot of other restaurants are doing this.
America does NOT run on Dunkin’. It runs on McDonald’s. There’s no competition. Trust me. If I ever dig myself out of my current hell, I’m putting some money in McDonald’s stock.