Through the Eyes of a Delivery Goddess |
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On a late night pizza delivery, I was sent to the furtherest reach at the south-western corner of our delivery area. There is a small plan of homes - well, I wouldn't call it a "plan", really, it was a missile site until about forty years ago, and now it's just military bungloes that are mostly welfare or low income housing now. Typical two bedroom ranch-style homes on a third of an acre and no parking, except a joint lot every third house. There are a total of probably 20 houses there, maybe 25, but that's stretching it. It was 10:50pm on a week night. This area is Bob's Post Gazette route - it's been awhile since I've actually delivered papers in there. I was going about 15 mph, looking for the address, when I noticed two women and two small children under a streetlight out in front of me. As I approached, the smaller of the two women ran out toward my car, stomping her feet and screamed, "SLOW DOWN, MORON" and continued to chatter at me as I drove by. For kicks, I pushed Bob's car into Nuetral and gunned the gas, then dropped it back into drive and continued down the street. How stupid am I?  Remember what Bob's car looks like? Well marked with Steelers Emblems on the side? ... and a Vocelli's pizza sign on the roof?? I went down the street, dropped off the pizza, and of course, she was waiting for me as I came back - standing out on the street so I could barely get by. She screamed again, "It's TEN miles per hour in here, **&@$$ !!!!! I'm calling your pizza shop, you so-and-so!!" I called the 16-yr old assistant manager and told her what was happenning. She said, "when you get back, we'll call the manager". So, we called Dave, and he was a bit annoyed with me gunning the gas, but I told him that sometimes, you just don't think straight, yaknow? Hey- I would rather have chased her down the street, but I refreigned. And who has toddlers out at 11pm under a street light on a weeknight, anyway? Before we could get out of the store, the BIG manager called me and wanted to know why he was getting a call from the corporate office at 11:20pm on a Tuesday night. I explained, but he was kind of angry with me. I told him that we deliver papers in there, and I could have sworn that it was 25mph in there, and I knew I was only going 15, since I saw little kids running around, I wanted to make sure I was going really slow past them. I hugged the opposite side of the street and everything, and on my way back past her, I just kept driving, the same 15pmh as when I came in. The following day, the manager and the BIG boss were both on hand to talk to me. The manager stood up for me - he was familiar with the "type" of housing there. Finally the BIG buy backed off, but I was getting pretty angry at him, myself. I didn't stay long after that - that was one of the three final straws toward my resignation decision. I've been working on and off for Pizza Outlet / Vocelli's for seven years, and if you can't trust me to make the right decisions, and follow the laws closely enough, then you don't deserve to have my employment. Eh - there's always another pizza shop in town.
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