A short true story:
I ordered a pizza to be delivered. The pizzeria said it would take 40 minutes. An hour passed, so I called the pizzeria. It seems the delivery person is new to the job, and I guess is also new to the city I live in. Perhaps she is illiterate, too. Apparently she had been trying to deliver the pizza to several locations other than my address. She was told the correct address, but simply took my pizza elsewhere, apparently to homes that hadn't ordered pizza. I was assured the pizza was on the way. Another 30 minutes passed, and then, finally, the delivery person showed up with a pizza.
I was about to get loud and I intended to refuse to pay for the pizza, but then I thought I'd try a different strategy. In an effort to shame the delivery person, I simply asked the question:
"Do you think it's still hot?"
She answered, unhesitatingly and with no sense that anything had gone wrong:
"Probably... a little bit."
At that moment, she won. I gave her a large tip and took the cold pizza.
Spiros, 0; Incompetent Pizza Delivery Person, 1.
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13 comments:
And some people say philosophy profs are bad at negotiating better wages with their administrations. Imagine that!
I suggest keeping a stack of copies of Neal Stephenson's novel 'Snowcrash' by the door, so you can give it to tardy pizza-delivery-folk in this situation. (If literacy is the issue, tell them to get someone to read the opening scene to them)
In an effort to shame the delivery person,...
Won't this strategy only be effective if the delivery person has a sense of shame?
While I find your sympathy endearing, I wonder: would you have tipper her more if the exchange had gone as follows?
You: "Do you think the pizza's still hot?"
Her: "Fuck you."
I find myself speechless.
PA, 0; Pizza of Doom blog post, 1.
Outrageous.
Word verification: jercunce
I must be missing something: why the large tip?
And so you have encouraged the poor woman to visit several wrong addresses before making the final delivery: just to make sure she gets a large tip again...
Would you do something similar with a student, e.g., "YOU: Is your term paper finished? STUDENT: A little bit, I think. YOU: Good girl! A+."
I'm glad we don't live in the same neighborhood. I'd be afraid to order pizza from now on, just because of you...
Well, it was above 0 kelvin, so yeah, a little bit hot.
The story was actually pretty long for this blog. I barely got to the end of it. Edit it more next time.
So THAT'S why I felt such a disturbance in the Force.
Lord Spiros tipped a delivery person well! Usually he air-grips their throats until their tongues turn purple.
wv: "raphi", as in:
Yo--greetings of the season
to my brainiacs of reason--
HA! Classic Spiros post - literally confronting a fuckedup world. Love that the "score" is back. Anyone puzzled by this post is a poseur. Why Spiros gave the big tip should be obvious: the level of incompetence achieved by the delivery guy deserves to be rewarded.
WV: russell. For reals.
"disturbance in the Force" = flatulence? (Gas makes me cranky, and then I empathize better with other cranks.)
Throw it in the oven for ten minutes.
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