We often hear stories about delivery persons taking a bite or more of food they are to deliver. There is predictable outrage, calls for a boycott and for the sacking of servers and delivery persons following such news making the headlines. But who gives a thought to the delivery person who is out making numerous deliveries to all ends of town? Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao made a relevant observation regarding the tough conditions under which these delivery persons operate.
Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao put out this tweet, pointing out the dangers that delivery persons face each day. They navigate crowded roads and dangerous traffic; crisscrossing cities to make their deliveries each day. Not only do they have the task of multiple deliveries, but there is also pressure to make more and more deliveries in a limited period of time. Companies such as Dominos Pizza who have a 30-minute-or-free type policy, place a great deal of emphasis on timely delivery, failing which the delivery people are penalised.
Typically, delivery persons are young boys with a misplaced sense of invincibility. Riding atop their two-wheelers, they drive recklessly, endangering themselves as well as others on the road. Older delivery men are typically those who may find it difficult to find other forms of employment, but who still have families to support and little choice. Their job is probably just a means to an end; not something that they would choose to do out of their own volition. Add to this the fact that delivery people are typically quite poorly paid and chance of career advancement is rather dim.
Apart from the ever-present dangers of being on the roads, constantly vulnerable on their two-wheelers, this is a really bad job for many other reasons. They have to deal with rude and demanding customers who complain if the order is incorrect, if the delivery person doesn’t have change, is delayed or for any other reason. The delivery person invariably bears the brunt of the customer’s bad mood and their sense of entitlement, without the option of being able to counter their rudeness. Then there is the pressure from the employer as well to contend with: that of completing X number of deliveries in a given period, failing which there could be a penalty of the threat of sacking. So these poor delivery people are caught in the middle of a pretty awful situation. I am not sure that extending the delivery time from 30 to 40 minutes would make much difference; however, the Police Commissioner’s tweet has drawn attention to a significant problem.
The police have to do their job too. If the police commissioner has this compassionate suggestion for Dominos, he should also make sure that his police force does their jobs better as well. They should try to ensure that people who break traffic signals, drive on the wrong side of the road, overtake from the wrong side, cut in dangerously and park incorrectly are penalised. In other words, the police have to do their bit to make roads safer.
However, the biggest onus is on us the consumers. We should be willing to pay a bit more for the convenience of home delivery. That way there is less pressure on companies to try and cut costs. We should be willing to wait more than 30 minutes for pizza – its only refined carbs and processed cheese after all, not an emergency. We need to have a bit of empathy for that guy who turns up at our doorstep with what we want; empathy for the poor pay, terrible working conditions and constant danger they have to contend with. Maybe we can just be a little politer, less entitled and less boorish to these people who serve us?
Maybe if that delivery guy isn't worried about being late he will be less of a danger to himself and to others on the road. Maybe if he isn't constantly rushing around, he can stop somewhere to get a snack for himself – and not make headlines for filching a few chips from the order he is to deliver.
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