to JobsIn the Winter of 1996, my ten year old Chevy Cavalier finally gave up the ghost. Even the local mechanic didn't know what was wrong with it. I ended up buying a new 1992 Dodge Shadow from a local reputable car dealership on the "Miracle Mile". Not anticipating an extra $225/month car payment, my budget became extremely tight. If I recall, after subtracting all my expenses from my net pay, I would have may $50 at the end of the month to spend. Not a whole lot. That boils down to about $12 a week. So, how to remedy this became my focusing point. Obviously I had to take on a part time job at nights. There was a Pizza Hut delivery store right up the road from my place with a big "Now Hiring Drivers" banner in front of the store. I went up there, gave them my application, and completed a silly common sense test that a lobotomized chipmunk could pass. A week or so later they wanted to interview me. That apparently went well, because I was delivering pizzas soon afterwards. In all honestly, a pizza delivery guy makes decent money. The only negative is the wear and tear on your car. I put over 50,000 miles on my car in the next year and a half. On a normal night, I'd take home $30 in tips. On Friday/Saturday or Monday Night Football season, I'd take home over $60 a night in tips. But that all depends on the customer. Obviously if the driver isn't courteous, is late (and not apologetic), or drives up in your yard and hits the dog, then a tip certainly would not be in order. Generally speaking, the drivers aren't late, and they are courteous. Sure, some of them may not want to make casual conversation while getting your order for you, but that's their problem. I've never understood why some customers would "stiff" a driver. In other words, give them little to no tip. There are the good customers that always order pizza and give consistently good tips, and there are those that want their exact change back. It's not official company policy, but if a driver is taking out three different orders, and he remembers one of his addresses is the good tipper, and one is the cheap bastard...who do you think the driver will deliver to first? Drivers remember good tippers and the bad tippers. We used to fight over who got to take what orders, based solely on how much they usually tip. For you uninformed customers, a driver is quite satisfied with 10%. A couple bucks on a $20 order is fine. A couple bucks on a $60 order is bad. If you're on welfare, living in Section 8 housing, have 5 unbathed kids and your house smells like piss, what the fuck are you doing ordering $49.86 in pizza and hot wings, and then want your 14 cents back? Trust me, the driver would give you that dime and four pennies back to begin with, but you've just marked yourself as "Cheap Customer", and he'll tell his fellow drivers about the experience. They'll probably remember your address too. As luck would have it, some new Area Manager guy was checking out the driving records of us delivery folks. I had 1 speeding ticket and 1 illegal U-Turn on my record. I was given the option of being a cook, but I had to decline that generous offer. At this point, I was doing better financially than I was just 18 months prior, so I told them I understood and I quit. No harsh feelings. It was fun while it lasted, but all good things come to an end.
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