SPARE A THOUGHT FOR THESE DELIVERY BOYS AND GIRLS!
I'm back with my writing and what an experience I got on the first day itself which left me with no option than to write about it and share it to you all! Hope I can reach out with my message to you all!
It had been quite a long time since I was observing and interacting with the Delivery Boys and Girls who relentlessly attend to their duty. Come rain or shine, winter or summer day, late evenings or even late into the night they deliver on time and with a smile.
I had always had a soft corner for them and kept interacting with many of them. I was shocked to hear what they go through and how they are treated by their employers. I will not name any of them or neither go into the details of what they all shared with me but I thought of sharing this post only to make my readers aware of what they go through and if possible to bring about an awareness to look at their work with more respect and kindness.
Today as I write this article I happened to meet at least 3 such boys who were crossing the roads with bags full of delivery loads like the one you see in the image above. That image is only one of them I could take as he had come to deliver in our own society. The other two were even more overloaded.
What shocked me that they do all this all through the day and with a smile on their faces. We all know that these deliveries are time bound. Some employers cut a specific amount from the daily earnings of these Boys and Girls if the delivery is not made in time.
We are all aware and also gleefuly order away Pizza's and the like from These Merchants who proudly claim to offer you the Contents FREE if the delivery does not reach you in the specified time which is normally 30 Mins or depending on each merchant.
The merchant's booking associate takes the order online or on phone and the delivery is timed. I have personally checked details of the Delivery Boys orders many times to find the address wrongly typed in or a very key element missing from the Address which has the boy searching around the location, asking people around for the exact location, while his time is ticking.
I will cite an exact example that I personally experience many times. A very famous building complex say let us call it ABC HOMES. The person ordering the contents will give his address as ABC HOMES, Flat. No. 10, Second Floor, xxxxxx road, xxxxx area, xxxxxx pin code and his contact number.
Either the person taking the order does not confirm if the address is totally perfect in all ways or the people who order it (sadly many times they do it purposely) will miss out a key factor. In the above case they have not specified the Building Number where ABC HOMES has about 10 Buildings in its complex.
So there will be 10 Flats with the same Flat. No 10 in the same complex. Above all this they will not pick up the phone when the delivery person calls them and if asked later they will say I never got a call from you or there is no range etc.
The exasperated delivery boy has to some how grope around the complex asking the watchman or the other people in the society and locate them by name and god forbid if it is on a top floor with no lift has to climb all the way to the delivery point.
Surprisingly, at this point the people expecting the delivery are all ready with the door open ready to fire away at him/her for the late delivery. It is evident from my interactions with many delivery boys that the people do it purposefully as they are waiting at the door and the first thing they say is "Your Delivery is Late, we want it free and a refund for it" etc. This itself shows that the address and the calls not attended to are only ways to ensure that the delivery is late. (I say this from experience corraborated from one of the boys who said that after closing the door and while he was packing his box to leave the floor he could hear the people inside gleefully shouting away, saying "See how I got the free Pizza?". What a shame!
Sadly if it is indeed a late delivery even at the cost of the address being wrong or the person not responding to the call it becomes the supervisors call whether to give the delivery free (which in most cases they do) and furthermore the delivery boys/girls are reprimanded and fined for the late delivery.
I do not want to name any particular company or merchant but the person booking the order should ensure that the details are checked perfectly and if in doubt like the case I mentioned above where there is no building number they should call the person before even sending the delivery.
I have had these delivery boys even telling me that some of the people ordering the items are very rude, and some who are even in their high spirits when they reach them for delivery are difficult to handle and they have to be very careful in attending to them.
I sincerely salute these boys and girls who carry extremely high weights and sizes of loads, be it a courier or a food delivery merchant or a pick up service. I have seen some of them carrying loads so huge that we cannot even see them from behind.
The image of the boy in my above picture in the Blog is enough proof of how they must be managing their loads. I could manage to share only one image of the this boy who was looking so exhausted and tired with the overload and said "Sir, at least today there is no rain, but yesterday with the rain lashing at us like mad, it was very difficult to make deliveries on time". I felt sad for him, but could do nothing to lessen his burden. I have not named him or the company purposefully as the core issue is the treatment we mete out to them and this should be reviewed by all respective Merchants whoever they are! (I will be trying to write to some of them whose specific cases I have experienced, hoping they will understand).
I do this to any and all boys coming for delivery. I did offer him water if they need it but most of them humbly refuse it saying "Thank You Sir, you at least asked me for water" - "There are so many who will not do even that and bang the door on your face". Some of them eagerly accept it as it is much needed.
The Boy I met today left with a smile on his face when I told him I will write about this in my article and was surprised that this can happen at all in the first place! He thanked me, started the bike and was off to his next delivery. I could clearly see the dark circles around his eyes from the strain he may be going through but he was delivering with a smile!
A BIG SALUTE TO THEM ALL FOR BEARING ALL THE ODDS TO DELIVER OUR GOODS IN TIME.
A HUMBLE REQUEST TO ALL - Next time you order something online and especially your favorite Pizza or Burger coming with the "If It's Late - It's Free" do mention your full address clearly, with every detail, your contact number which please do pick up when called and at least show a little courtesy by doing the least you can do in asking them if they are ok and would like a glass of water (Which I am sure most would drink as they are mostly dehydrated by the sun and constant climbing up the stairs especially where there are no lifts). It doesn't cost you a dime to express our thanks and gratitude for the service they are offering. I can assure you the smile on their faces and the much needed compassion will go a long way!
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