Above And Beyond
I’ve been a pizza delivery driver for several years, and today is the first day I legitimately feel ashamed of doing what I do. This story may not seem to be a huge deal to some people, since it’s probably more of me being socially inept when it comes to a big audience and being recorded and not being comfortable with my singing voice. So I may be overreacting, but I can’t shake this feeling of humiliation.
Since I was a kid, I’ve always been pretty shy. Even among close friends I’m somewhat quiet, and I am absolutely terrible at speaking in front of large crowds. I remember in high school having nightmares for weeks about having to do an upcoming presentation, and I would be dreading doing it every day until the day of. Not only that, but I’m a terrible singer, and I know it.
I don’t even feel comfortable singing in front of friends and family. Which brings me to the actual story. I had a delivery today with a note written in the “special instructions” section that said, “Sing a Christmas carol for a tip.” I didn’t really take it all that seriously, and figured they were just joking. And if they weren’t, I thought of a corny line to say while driving there to hopefully satisfy them if they were serious.
So I show up and it’s some kind of small party going on. There’s probably roughly 10-15 teenagers gathered around in the living room and the mom comes to the door and takes the pizzas (there were six larges) as I give her the receipt to sign. She then looks at me with a smile and goes, “So did they tell you?!? Me: “Haha, oh the note? Yeah I saw that, but trust me, you don’t want to hear me sing.”
Her: “Oh come on, you have to!” She then ushers me inside and closes the door behind me. All of the people there are watching me and already have their phones out recording me. I instantly get uncomfortable and want to leave as quickly as possible. An audience is one thing, but being recorded by multiple people will instantly make me feel anxious. It all went downhill from here.
Her: “Well go on, sing!” Me: “No really, I’m a terrible singer. I’m sure I will ruin your Christmas!” By the way, Christmas is still several weeks away, I have no idea why they wanted a Christmas carol so badly. Her: “OH COME ON. I’ll make it worth your while.” She said this as she waved a 20 and a 5 in front of me. I continued to insist on being a terrible singer and not being comfortable with it, but she kept pushing.
Eventually I decided to try my corny line and hoped it would satisfy them. So I just said, “Okay, how about, rub-a-dub-dub I brought you some grub!” Which was corny as heck and SO cringey to say and made me feel infinitely more uncomfortable. Obviously, no one laughed, and she went, “No, it has to be a Christmas carol!” I insisted more about not wanting to sing and was starting to get seriously annoyed and uncomfortable that she wasn’t taking no for an answer.
She kept waving the money in front of my face to “encourage” me, so finally I just said, “Look, I’m sorry but I’m not going to sing for money.” She looked at me incredulously for a second and went “Woooooooooowwwww. It was only for fun you know. Well, you’re definitely not getting this then,” she said as she pulled the 20 away and only gave me the 5 and the receipt she had signed.
I said thank you and quickly left, while I heard several comments behind me from everyone else like: “Wow, is he serious? What a jerk,” “Ugh, gross,” “Wow, did he really have to make us feel so bad?” So yeah. It’s just being pressured to sing which I guess should just be fun, but I’ve never felt so used and humiliated while working here.
I legitimately feel ashamed to be working a minimum wage job now, and truly feel like I’m on the lowest rung of the ladder in society. I was just a tool for their entertainment that they thought would jump at the chance to make a fool of myself for an extra 20 bucks. I’m a pizza delivery driver, not a freaking performer or a circus monkey.
Story credit: Reddit / pizzathrowaway7035