Driving Mr. Pizza

So - tonight was my first night delivering pizzas for some extra cash. I would rate it better than getting trampled to death for working at Wal-Mart in New York on Black Friday. Time in the store is crazy - I started on a Friday night, no less - but once you are out on the road with the pizza, things are much more chill. It took me a while to get the bugs worked out, but Google Maps on my Blackberry was a decent co-pilot. My new Jawbone headset was a major help too. I ran into a couple of orders in apartment complexes and it helped to have the headset while I was talking, reading my map, and driving.

One thing from tonight really struck me. Most of my clients fell in the lower-middle class grouping - and all of them were really cool and tipped me well. The one person who didn't tip me at all had a nice house and car in a nice neighborhood.

That makes me stop and think. I've been that guy who didn't tip. As a delivery driver I'm making 4.55/hr when I'm on the road plus $1/delivery for mileage. Getting stiffed on the tip is a pretty shitty when you're barely making enough to cover operating your vehicle.