https://maps.app.goo.gl/n3YG9eEnSX2TP57x8
Tonight it was rain and the media is reporting blizzard (at high elevations), storms, rainfall,high winds,etc . So around 6 pm I accept a delivery which turns out to be a double delivery. When you accept a delivery you aren't told if it's a single or double. You realize it's a double after accepting. If you don't accept you lose 1st priority status. So I accept everything.
But a double delivery takes more time and is more difficult to communicate with the customer due to all the bells & whistles on the app & the danger of lag or crash etc if you click too much. By double delivery I mean they have you pickup 2 nearby orders and then they provide the recipient addresses, one after the other.
And it was pouring rain 🌧️, and in this area i know in advance there's nowhere to park near the restaurant to pick up the order so I walk (actually run) to restaurant #1, & pick up the order where they have no plastic bags even for rainy days ( fortunately i brought a blanket with me to the the order,as well as an umbrella ☔) ,& then run to restaurant #2.
At restaurant #2 I lose my data connection but fortunately they have WiFi so after I figure out the password I'm able to tell them whose order I'm picking up.I literally run back back to the car in the rain with 2 orders under my blanket in one hand, and holding the umbrella in my other hand, trying not to trip & fall. The whole trek is about 3/4 mile on foot, total.
I drive to recipient #1 in the pouring rain.
Along the way I get a text from recipient #2 asking "What time i will arrive?" This means she's not happy, wondering why its taking so long. I can't respond to her immediately because I'm afraid of losing the directions to recipient #1 address.
The dasher app can be clunky sometimes so that if you switch screens too much it sometimes lags, or even crashes at times. IF it crashes it can be a 10 or 15 minute delay for it to reboot. So I wait until completing delivery #1 to text recipient #2 saying I'm "on the way".
And a few minutes later I'm dropping off the order on #2's steps, leaving a text message saying it's "On your doorstep. Thanks" per instructions. At this point I notice they decided to leave tip "after delivery", depending whether they approve of me or not. I move onward.
Later, I make one more delivery and also notice a homeless person at a 7-11 who didn't look too good. I interacted with him, but he wasn't very responsive. I left him a few dollar bills in his hand but wondered if a random fellow nearby would steal it from him once I drive away. I also call the police and asked them to do a "welfare check". Prayers for him on this cold & wet evening. And that's it for the evening.
I check the app one more time and notice that recipient #2 decided to leave "NO TIP". Do they have any idea what I did to try to get their delivery to them as fast as possible in the pouring rain doing a double delivery ⁉️
Oh, by the way, I am a highly educated person with 2 bachelor degrees & a masters & professional working experience. I do door dash periodically as I am working on another degree. Some people assume all delivery people are desperate high school dropouts or something. Not true. We like to be respected too.
3/1/24 👇☝️
I'm a door dash delivery person. This is where I will leave my thoughts & comments, anonymously.
