The Delivery Guy – Let Us Be More Empathetic Towards Him

“Zomato fires a delivery guy for eating from the customer’s order”. This is the headline that recently created a furore on all the major media portals in India. The opinions on the issue went from – “he deserved it for his wrongdoing” to viral memes of the guy with the caption “this is what the delivery guy does when you apply TASTY50 discount codes on Zomato”.

Attitude Of The News Channels

Indian news channels went on an overdrive having hour-long debates on the issue. Unfortunately, the face of the delivery guy too was shown in the related news reports.

One channel did it and other channels followed suit because how would it matter now when one from their own family has disclosed the identity of the delivery guy!

What was surprising though, was that the channels which blurred the faces of rapists and terrorists were suddenly displaying the face of the delivery guy.

Valid Questions Asked But Was The Resulting Consequence Fair?

The delivery guy made a mistake. He shouldn’t have tampered with the customer’s order and eaten a portion of their food. What that does is raise valid concerns as to –

• Has this happened before as well, without us knowing?
• Is the food safe for consumption?
• Are we paying money to a corporate for cheating us?

I understand the concerns. The questions are justified from a consumer who’s paying his hard earned money for a quality meal. But are these questions worth firing the delivery guy and snatching his source of livelihood?

Think about it.

Now, not only is this guy struggling for a meal (because hunger is what led him to commit the mistake in the first place) but he’s unemployed too. 

Spare a thought for his family members and the hardship they have to go through in a judgemental society like ours.

Then ask yourself a question. Did he deserve this?

Understanding The Current Working Environment Of The Delivery Guys

The delivery guy did whatever he did, out of hunger. But why was he hungry? Why was a man, who delivers food for a living, starving himself?

Let’s understand this with respect to the current scenario :

• The delivery guys are given a target of completing a particular number of orders to get a tip for that day – failing which they don’t get that extra money to survive their families for the month.
• The ticking clock of the food app on your phone, where the company guarantees quick delivery doesn’t help the delivery guy’s cause either.
• Plus with increasing competition between Zomato, Foodpanda, Swiggy and the likes, the window of “rest time” for the delivery guys is further reduced.
• They have to rush from one location to another and in an attempt to deliver your food on time, sometimes they do fail. Sometimes they fail due to traffic, other times due to rain and on rare occasions, due to vehicle breakdown.
• In between all this, they don’t get the time to eat as they’re constantly on the move.
• If they still end up being late, then they apologise to you for a late delivery but always remind you to give a 5 STAR rating for their delivery. Now, why do they ask you for the rating? Because each 5 Star rating makes them eligible for a small incentive from the food delivery company. 

This is the pressure which the delivery guys wake up to each day.

They’re overworked, underpaid and starving due to the cut-throat competition from their rival companies. Remember that they have a house to run, a family to feed and some of them are the sole breadwinners in their families.

So looking at the mistake committed and analysing their existing pressure cooker condition, shouldn’t we have displayed empathy and been slightly more compassionate towards the delivery guy?

Possible Solutions – How Can We Ensure This Doesn’t Happen In The Future

A society’s well being and balance is ensured only when the affluent section takes care of the not-so-privileged section. It was heartening to see a few people on social media empathize and feel bad for the delivery guy too.

Here are a few possible solutions that can ensure episodes like these don’t happen in the future –

• Free meals should be given to the delivery guys before they start deliveries for the day. This helps them have enough energy to get through the day. After all, what is the point of organisations promising you timely food deliveries when their own employees are starving?
• The inclusion of “tip for the delivery guy” in the delivery charges that the food apps apply on each home delivery. This way the delivery guy is paid for each order irrespective of the consumers remembering to give him a rating or tipping him themselves.
• Allotting some time to the delivery guys to rest and have a meal between their work shifts – even if it means reducing the number of orders they deliver in a day. This way they’re not in a constant mad rush to deliver as many orders as possible, at the cost of their health.
  
  
  

Conclusion

It’s up to us to ensure that episodes like these don’t end up ruining people’s lives altogether. Yes, a mistake was committed. Yes, a strict lesson should be taught to keep the delivery guys in check. But to publicly shame them for being hungry isn’t justified.

Nobody likes to live in poverty. Nobody chooses to be hungry. Sometimes a benefit of doubt needs to be given, looking at the circumstances under which a certain action is performed.

Because if we are shaming and criminalizing a poor man for succumbing to hunger, then the situation can’t get any sadder. It’s time for us to grow a conscience and practise the art of empathy & compassion.

What do you have to say on the issue? Do let me know in the comments section.

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