My Akoha History #10 – Delivery Driver Memories

“Warm Fuzzy” was an Akoha Mission played on October 2, 2010, happening at random whilst I was at work. As a direct quote of the mission, I needed to, “Recount a time when a stranger surprised you with their kindness,” and this was certainly a customer who did that for me. For those not in the know, I used to be a pizza delivery driver for Toppers Pizza. Yes, I was employed when a certain Myza video got out, but I’m known for making strange/bad choices in my life. Moving on. I joined the store when it first opened in January 2009, and it was the very first store in Milwaukee as well. We had a falling out when I eventually accepted being a delivery driver could never pay for the expense of being a deliver driver, even when you’re dead center in downtown Milwaukee with a lot of bars and students to feed.

To explain in full the business of being a delivery driver, I’ll eventually make a My Experience video like I did with my private security business (which I’ll need to write about at some point, because there’s a story there), but in the now…I think it’s best to focus on making everything else in my life work. Being a delivery driver really kicked my butt in terms of funds, and I’m likely not to recover for a long while. There’s a tentative date of June/July 2012 where I’ll finally get back on my feet, but that doesn’t consider the debt of loss I accumulated from my stay. However it goes, this isn’t about the negative impacts the job had on me, but the positive ones which kept me on for so long. And like it is for many other people I worked with, it was meeting new and interesting people and making them happy in turn. The customer spoken of in this mission is just one of the many.

Delivering some delicious sticks to a woman in what I could only assume was a banking company of some kind. She was busy and about, not able to answer her phone, and required the receptionist to find her. She came round, apologized for my waiting too long, and I said it was alright. What I’m supposed to do, you know?

When it was all said and done, she said I had just the right attitude for the job and company, something that really hasn’t been told to me before. I know I have my faults with the business and lack in so many ways in my eyes, yet to know that it was enough for her really made my heart leap.

It also left an impact on me that she related stories of how she used to order from my company elsewhere, during gaming sessions of all things. A banking woman that games? Gives hope to me in this world of Chaos. I sadly did not ask if it was Dungeons & Dragons she played, but it’s all well. Some things aren’t ever meant to be known, right?

Rereading this really strikes a cord, because I would have loved to keep working at the company, and continue to work the right stuff I supposedly had. But in the end, Toppers really only wanted me to be the grunt of their business (there may be other factors involved, but I’ll continue writing with this thought in mind). Quite a shame too, considering that it’s the grunts that make the business of pizza delivery possible. I was the most important part, but yet nothing at all, which can mess with your feelings like no one’s business I must tell you. Strangely enough, the only regret I have about it all was the money, because while I could have made a lot more at a McDonald’s after all the expenses were said and done, I wouldn’t have had as much fun. Some of the best times I’ve had in Milwaukee stemmed from my work at Toppers, and to say I wish I never worked there would mean to take those memories back, and I never will. Best job I ever had, but worst financial choice ever. Well, the job after that one really, but that’s another time.

But to the woman I delivered to that day, she wasn’t the only one who gave me a certain spark or butterflies of elation. Sure, she was courteous, left a good tip (always tip your delivery!), and we could likely talk for hours about our gaming experiences as well. That last bit alone is a big deal, because there’s apparently a rule running around that you never talk about your Player Character unless someone asks, and almost no one ever will. If you find someone willing to hear how your Will Save could shake the foundations of the earth, stick to them like glue.

But again, this woman isn’t the only one, but just one of the many stars in a dark sky which made my work such a lively experience. I have some of these customers noted down in written memoirs, some which don’t need memoirs because they are so vivid in my mind, some simple emotions and ideas when thought back to, and some…forgotten completely. But they all changed me into a better person. A person who worked through a job that was going nowhere but down, but a better person all the same. They will likely never remember me in the long run, but for a moment in their lives, I brought them deliciousness, and all was good. Huzzah.

Tagged: Akoha, Dungeons & Dragons, Food, Memories, Milwaukee, Money, Tabletop Gaming, Work, YouTube