But when the door opened, instead of warmth and gratitude, they were met with rudeness and unkindness—an unexpected sting that cut deeper than the winter chill. This small act shattered the fragile hope for comfort, leaving a raw reminder of how quickly kindness can be overshadowed by harshness in the everyday battles of life.
There’s a local burger joint that my family and I love. It’s about 10 blocks away from our house and they do both delivery and pick up. I’m a ft student and SAHM to a toddler (1.5) while my husband works ft.
I had a big exam and a couple of lab practicals due today and was too tired to cook dinner so I decided to order a couple burgers and fries from the local joint. It was already dark out, really cold, and I didn’t feel like trying to wrangle my kid into their snow suit or the stroller to walk over there as we don’t have a car, so I ordered delivery on their website for an additional fee (this wasn’t a delivery service like Door Dash or Uber Eats, the restaurant uses its own online platform and hires its own drivers to delivery food).
I paid online and left a 20% tip.
About 30 minutes later I got a notification the delivery driver was at my building so I went downstairs to pick my food up. When I got to the door the delivery person was very rude and told me that next time I should get off my ass and pick up my own damn food and that she doesn’t get paid enough to deliver food less than a mile.
I just grabbed my food and didn’t say a word to her and headed back toward the elevator. I heard a pound on the (locked) door as I turned around to see she’d hit the door with some snow and was flipping me off.
I went upstairs kind of frazzled and ended up calling the restaurant to let them know what happened and to please reimburse me for my tip. The manager I talked to was horrified and apologized and ended up returning my tip.
He also offered a 20% off coupon for a future visit. We love this burger shop so this poor experience isn’t going to stop us from eating their food, I just am not going to get delivery from them again.
Conclusion
The original poster (OP) faced an unexpected confrontation after utilizing a paid delivery service for a short distance due to exhaustion from academic and childcare responsibilities. The central conflict lies between the OP’s reasonable use of an advertised service and the delivery driver’s unprofessional, aggressive reaction regarding the perceived short distance of the delivery.
Given that the OP paid for delivery and tipped based on the service provided, was the driver justified in verbally abusing the customer and acting aggressively? Or does the mere proximity of the location negate the customer’s right to utilize the convenience they paid for?
Here’s how people reacted:
You’re definitely NTA. Everyone deserves to use delivery services – that’s what they’re there for – but ESPECIALLY people who genuinely need them, and that includes both people like me, and exhausted parents.
Delivery helps a lot of people. You chose it because bundling up a toddler to run a short errand in the cold sucks and isn’t a good use of your time and energy. Legit. Somebody else might order delivery because they are disabled and don’t have the spoons for even a short trek. Delivery people don’t typically know who their customers are or why they might be ordering delivery—so they have *no business judging*. They deserve compassion but so do you.
In any case, the delivery person doesn’t even make sense. She’s getting a nice tip for doing 3 minutes of work, that should be a win win for everyone!
What the hell is the delivery person’s problem? Who cares how close you are. Ten blocks, next door… shouldn’t matter. There’s a bazillion different reasons why someone might need delivery no matter the distance and she has no business to comment on it.
Edit: spelling