Autism and Employment (another PennSilverTaco thread)!

@Taco critter

I will be sporadically returning to DoorDash during the month of December for the sole purpose of showing off my truck, which I just decorated for Christmas...



My Tacoma was hit last year when I decorated it!

 

No more New Hope or Peddler’s Village though!

 

I refuse to pick up orders from Peddler’s Village because of this intersection/light!

 

No turn on red and it takes forever to turn green. There is rarely anyone coming from the left so I have no idea why it’s a NO TURN ON RED.

I’ve already been pulled over once for getting impatient and making a left turn at a long red light (Labor Day 2017; Straight lights were green but left arrow was red; Got off with a warning). I do not want to try my luck again!

 

Make sense? Sometime I think they post those NO TURN ON RED signs for two reasons (same for left turn arrows that operate independently of the other traffic lights):

• Revenue generation
• To fish for drunk drivers

I don’t think the cop who pulled me over had any intention of giving me a ticket. They hide en masse waiting for an impatient driver to make a left turn on that red light; Then they pull the person over. Once it was established that I was sober, the cop let me go.

 

I drive for a food delivery place as a side hustle on Friday and Saturday nights. Mine is a local (ish) company very similar to UE & DD but independent and was here in town before those companies either started or were popular.

When I first started in March it was paid per order based on a flat rate ($4.50?), but they've since gone to a pay out percentage of the total delivery fee, which is based on the mileage from the restaurant to the destination. This way the further I drive the more I make for that order, plus tips of course. I make more money on that pay scale so I like it. They tend to treat me as their "long haul" driver and send me out to their furthest delivery ranges because they know I don't mind driving. This way I tend to make my money on 4-5 larger and further out orders rather that 8-10 smaller and closer orders in a night. We have actual dispatchers that get to know our preferences and try to route us to restaurants close to where we last dropped off and stuff and generally make things as efficient as possible.

This place was old school enough that they were using text and email for all the order dispatching and stuff for years until just recently (like a couple weeks ago) we switched to app based. The app is mostly am an improvement but has its drawbacks too.

Unlike the others we offer an "e-store" where the person can order stuff like bottled soda, candy, and cakes direct from us in addition to restaurant food. We have to go pick that up if they order it from our central office location which is kind of annoying but it's a good value add to help keep us competitive with the larger companies.

With our outfit we are issued light up car toppers and thermal bags (one pizza bag, a drinks bag, and a normal order hot bag) at the start of the night that we turn in at the end of each "shift". We also wear a company logo shirt/hoodie. I actually like this because then people know why your rolling up into their neighborhood and I feel that can be good in some of the more ghetto areas of town. I haven't been hassled while doing it yet.

Anyway, it's interesting work. Nobody is getting rich off it, except the owner of course, but it helps fill in the corners so to speak. Like most I find it would be more profitable if I drove something with better mileage, but I still make money doing it and I like my truck. It pisses me off sometimes when cheap asses stiff me with no tip, particularly on larger or further out orders, but it usually evens out in the long run when somebody treats me really good later. Some of the deliveries are just odd or entertaining. Mostly it's just easy work.

 

One thing I really hate is doing Doordash in the rain, so much so that I will refuse to do it!

It’s one thing if I’m driving from one place to a predetermined destination (and back again), but having to get out of the truck and run into a restaurant in the rain and then drive to a house I’ve probably never been to before?!?! No thank you!

When I was still doing Uber Eats, I went out right after it snowed one time and got my Taco stuck in someone’s unplowed driveway. Luckily, the customer helped me get the truck out in a matter of minutes and then invited me to come inside and smoke a bowl with him and his buddies...



I said thank you but kindly refused.

 

I think weed should be legal, but it doesn’t mean I’m into smoking it!

 

I like driving for our outfit in the rain. We tend to run more orders because people don't want to go out or go pick stuff up themselves. People also tend to tip a little more generously when they know the weather is crappy and you drive through it for them. I make more money doing it when it rains, but I have to take things a little slower. With the light weight rear of the pickup it's easy to slide around if you get impatient to launch.

I think it should be legal for medicinal and recreational, though I also don't use it... Anymore, either. I just grew out of it mostly. I say as long as you're doing it off the clock and not working or driving under the influence, or in a really safety sensitive job, then go for it. I mean particularly if a retiree, physically disabled shut in or somebody wants to pass the time blazing it and watching family feud then who am I to judge?

 

I don’t judge, LOL

I think I will do Doordash anyway tonight because I need money and I don’t feel like dipping in my savings account anymore this month.

 

Also, Operation: Christmas Taco is still undergoing “LEO tolerance testing”. I’ve been decorating my truck for Christmas annually since probably 2016 and have yet to get pulled over, but there are still a few jurisdictions I have not been to. I’ve had cops drive right past my truck and not give it a second look.

My plan if I get pulled over is to be as polite as possible and pull the “but it’s Christmas...” excuse and then crank “You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch" on my Taco’s high-powered stereo system if I get a ticket!

 

that was not me

 

Do you do Uber in your Ram?

 

Nope. Sure dont.

 

I got picked up in a Tesla once!

 

@Taco critter

I dropped off a Chipotle order off at a mental hospital tonight, and the place kinda made me uneasy. Based on the look and feel of the place, I was expecting to see a couple of orderlies in white outfits escorting a person in a straitjacket through the halls! Hell, I wouldn't have been surprised if I turned a corner and saw a straitjacketed individual in a padded cell! I had to use the bathroom, and the receptionist gave me the key. The toilet even had this plastic thing around the flusher to keep patients from banging their heads on the pipes (that would be my guess).

 

I have some chili pepper lights strung up around my bed and I've been driving orders and catering orders (my w2 job) with them all over the place and so far I haven't been hassled. I'm a cdl licensed driver so I drive carefully. I'm hoping I don't get pulled over for them but if I do I'll simply be polite, say I I'm just trying to spread some cheer, and pull them off if it's going to be an issue.

My lights are red but I suspect if I switched to amber/yellow they couldn't do much because that's a legit clearance light color... But that doesn't feel as.. Christmassy somehow?

 

Apparently they are technically illegal in PA...

 

Edible Arrangements has been added to the list...

The company typically delivers its products in refrigerated vans, but there’s been a shortage of drivers so they’ve farmed out work to DoorDash. I accepted a job to pick up from the Warrington location because it was $9.50. For a delivery within Central Bucks, this is on the higher end.

I did not realize until I was walking out to the truck with the order in hand that this order was going to an apartment leasing office in Hatfield, about eleven miles away. The eleven miles wasn’t the worst part; Across the county line during rush hour was the worst part!

Potentially even worse than that was the fact that this edible arrangement was a surprise, and the customer did not realize they were getting it, which would likely mean no tip. More than likely, the sender also had no idea the delivery would be getting farmed out to DoorDash either, so that would mean no tip from them as well.

The sender was apparently a Warrington-based vendor who worked with the company that managed the apartment complex, hence the reason that they ordered from the Warrington store.

I have always hated delivering to apartments, and I had a bit of trouble finding the leasing office. When I did deliver the arrangement, the receptionist was very friendly.

I ended up having to go back inside the office to get the woman to sign it because due Edible Arrangements’ stupid rule I couldn’t complete the transaction until I got an E-signature.

Never, NEVER, EVER gonna take DoorDash orders from Edible Arrangements again! By the way, this was the first time I took an order from then, and the people at both ends were very friendly, but this seems to be another corporate cost-cutting member that favors everybody but the DoorDash driver.