Good Friday?

I had the day off from my day job today, but spent a busy Friday at home. Before heading to my pizza job, I filled both cars with gas, or tried to. I bought a $50 gas card at Speedway, filled up the Taurus, but wasn't quite able to fill up the Hyundai. Gas is up to $2.749! That sent me to work in a somewhat foul mood.

I haven't worked a Friday in a long time so was really looking forward to a profitable night tonight. My emotions ranged so far tonight that it's one of those nights I almost have to give a pizza by pizza description.

Surprise Tip
My first delivery was $27.58 to a house on the far side of town, where the young men who order never tip. Much to my surprise, someone who appeared to be their grandmother was there today. She gave me $30 and asked how much the change was. "$2.42," I replied. "That's for you" she said, "It's bad out there." (At this point it was starting to get cold).

Line From A Movie
My next delivery, also far away, was 6 pizzas, discounted to $62.08. I was hoping for a big tip. I got $2.92, and a guy in the background called out "Keep the change, ya filthy animal." Regular readers will certainly recognize this line from the #2 movie on my list of Top 10 Movies with Pizza Scenes, Home Alone! It was my first time actually getting this line used on me, so it was kind of cool.

Delivery / Pick Up - Mix Up
My 3rd delivery was a ways away also. When I knocked, a little dog was barking and jumping like crazy, but nobody answered the door. This was strange as a different delivery had just been changed to a pick-up before I left the shop. I called the number and got voicemail. I called our shop and spoke with Rick our GM. We agreed that I should wait a few minutes to see if they had went to the store or something. Finally a guy came to the door, and said it was supposed to be a pick-up. He took the pizzas, which were already paid by credit card, and with a $2.68 tip.

I quickly called Rick back, as I realized that the name on my delivery and the name on the delivery that had been changed rhymed, (like "Hose" and "Lowes") and there probably was a mix-up. Indeed this was the case and someone had to be sent out with the other delivery.

Rerun
My 4th delivery was my farthest yet. On the way I had to drop off a pasta from a previous delivery. I don't know if it was messed up or if the driver forgot it. But reruns usually mean no tip, and this was indeed the case.

On Second Thought, No Tip
Then the actual delivery was $19.57. The woman came to the door holding a $20 and a $5 but only gave me the $20. I don't know if she was teasing or what.

Family Dine-In
About this time my family had arrived, ordered, and was finishing up their meal. Now as an employee I get a 50% discount, up to $10 off maximum. Many times, the waitresses will also hook up employees and their families with free fountain drinks, but not today. Before the discount, our bill for 2 pizzas, breadsticks, a salad, and 7 drinks was $41.12. The discount brought it down to $31.12 but I figured I would have to work most of the night just to pay the check. Victoria left a nice $7 tip.

My next 4 deliveries were uneventful except for the fact that snow was starting to fall. And I got my first and only stiff of the night (except for reruns), $0.42 on a $11.58 delivery. Total for the 4 runs was $7.30.

Forgetting The Pepsi
Oh and I forgot the 2-liter on one of them, so I stopped at Drug Mart and bought one with my own $. The store owes me a 2-liter. I forgot to take it home tonight, I'll be sure to remember tomorrow.

Pizza Circles
On my 10th delivery I finally took my first double of the night. I made $5.45 in tips but had to apologize on the 2nd delivery. We have a new kid cutting and boxing the pizzas. This customer had ordered 4 extra ranch sauces, and Steve had put them directly on top of the pizza (in the box). Closing the box and putting another box on top causes something similar to "alien crop circles" to appear on the pizza. I asked him not to pack them like that anymore.

Don't Drink And Drive
About this time we were slow and I took a phone order for a pick-up. They wanted 2 pepperoni pizzas. We're supposed to try to "upsell", so I always ask "Do you want anything else with that? Breadsticks, chicken wings, Pepsi?"

"No, we have beer, we're ok," was the reply. I used this as an opening to try to talk them into delivery. "Beer huh. Are you sure you don't want us to bring that pizza out to you?" I suggested, but she wasn't interested.

Snow On Easter?
My next 3 deliveries were also pretty boring. I did start using a line at the door which I think may have increased my tips slightly: "When you have more snow for Easter than you had for Christmas, something's not right." Total for the 3 runs was $7.27.

Best Tip Of The Night
By now, the snow was falling pretty good and the roads were getting very slippery. A pickup truck fishtailed right in front of me! My next delivery was pretty close and I was quite surprised to get $4.42 on a $13.58 delivery from a punk/goth type young man.

My 16th run of the night got me $2.93 on a $12.07 order, not bad!

Rerun (again)
Next was another rerun (with no real order to go with it this time). Pasta again! This time the customer specifically asked for marinara sauce but the cook made the dinner with alfredo sauce. This customer had a pretty neat light-up house number beside their door. I may look into getting one, it was very nice!

Extra Cash
By now it was after midnight, all of the prep work was done, and the dishes were pretty well caught up. The other driver Steve offered me $5 to let him go home early, which I agreed to. Thanks Steve! Steve also pocketed an extra $17 due to a computer glitch which led to a voided check, and he was kind enough to split that with me also. Steve starts at 9 PM on Fridays and took just 5 deliveries, but made over $30!

Best Run Of The Night
Then we got a late order, actually 3, but 2 were to the same house. Quite far away. One was 5 pizzas for $62 and the other was 1 pizza and some cinnamon sticks. They were separate because the smaller order was paid by credit card. Each of them tipped $4. One of them was an ex-employee who has tipped very generously in the past, and with the bad weather I was kind of hoping for more, but I sure can't complain about $8 on a single delivery.

The final order of the night was $12.58 and I got another $2.42 tip on that one.

Nightly Totals
Total for the night was 7.5 hours on the road, 20 deliveries, 84 miles driven, $378 in pizza orders delivered, and $46 in tips. Pretty decent night, but a little frustrating due to the $31 I spent to buy my family's dinner.

Pizza! Get Your Hot Pizza Here!
Then there were a few pre-made pizzas that cook Steve put through the oven. There were 2 with pepperoni for me to take. We closed up and I gave Steve a ride home. Steve lives near a bar and I swung past after I dropped him off, with the 2 extra pizzas. There was a crowd of smokers outside the side door and I was able to quickly sell those 2 pizzas for $20. That made it a very nice night!

Gassing Up And Going Home
I put another $20 on my gas card, filled up the Hyundai and had $ left, and brought home $45.