It's the same with ALL the online supermarkets (although some of our stores will allow drivers to accept gifts so long as the local management are made aware of them on return).
Are you driving green and white vans around Neil?
Printable View
Just about to pay the invoice for two new heavy duty batteries, drive belts, and a couple of switches and sensors.
Can hardly see the keyboard for the tears in my eyes. :cry::cry::cry:
PS. I admire your enthusiasm. The controller I bought from you all those months ago has not yet left the shelf in the cupboard where I put it. :o
But of course. You get to drive a whacking great van round the countryside all day, listening to the radio, and everywhere you arrive, they welcome you like a long lost son, cos they're so glad they can eat again. Beats the crap out of paddling round a farmyard knee deep in unmentionable, mending things that should have been pensioned off years ago. :(
You sir, win the internet for today!
The reality of the job (and I know Neil will agree......)
* Turn up at silly 'o' clock AM (or half way through the afternoon to finish at silly 'o' clock PM). You're still tired and battle-worn from the previous day's shift.
* Do a quick on the spot MOT on the shed you've been assigned to drive for the shift which may or may not be road legal (sore point and often dubious as I'm not a qualified mechanic).
* Load said van if it hasn't been done already (OK....I'm lucky where I'm based in that it's normally fully loaded and ready to roll once the above is done)
* Visit 20+ customers who may or may not have had a positive test (they rarely let us know until it's too late)
* Haul 1cwt of shopping (it's apparently only a week's worth for a family of three....innit?) up a long gravel drive and then up one or more flights of stairs to their first floor door....all whilst wearing a nappy on your chops which is so effective you can still smell your own farts!
* We have a set time per drop, which dictates how long we spend at each customer....timed from the moment we stop the engine, jump into the back of the van, find the shopping, get it to the door, have it unloaded and restart the van. A customer who decides to take their time to finish a phone call/coffee/dinner before opening the door throws the entire shift off balance! We smile, grin, and chat with them...always knowing that we had to be at the next drop 5 minutes ago.
* Apologise profusely because they've had their Merlot subbed with a Shiraz, or the loaf of bread they've been subbed doesn't fit in their toaster like the one they ordered does (first world problems and all that)
* Fret that the customer may be breathing virus on you, or that the warm air coming from their house may contain aerosols (remember, the nappy we're wearing on our face lets smells though...we can smell the Glade candle you've got lit or the herbal tobacco you've been smoking!)
* Cower apologetically at this time of year because they're trying to give you a well deserved couple of quid tip to get a hot coffee or breakfast because we really can't accept it and can be sacked on the spot for doing so.
* Return to van, sanitise like hell and move to the next drop, forever worrying if the telematics on the van are going to catch you speeding, harshly breaking, harshly accelerating or idling the van to keep warm on your break. All of this in the knowledge too that the on-board cameras can see where you are, what you're doing and how you're doing it!
But, you've also got it in the back of your mind that you spent 1 minute too long chatting to the last customer and that you'll now be behind for the rest of the shift.
Trust me, I'd rather be in a farm field at times (and I'm NOT kidding). This online groceries lark is blimmin' hard work and this year I've gained total respect to those that do this as their life's ambition in more ways than you'll believe!
**side note....the above is a fictitious scenario and in no way related to my normal day's work. It's written in humour and is supposed to be read as such ;)
Thank you for cheering me up, after reading your post I have come to realise my situation is not nearly as bad as I once thought it was :D
If it helps, I've been wearing the U Mask for the last few months.
Not only is it incredibly comfortable, but in Italy, it's classed as a medical device. So one of the few masks that can protect you, rather than just protecting the other person.
It's not cheap, but for me the benefit was I don't need to wash/clean/throw it away - it works for around 200 hours and then you replace the filter.
https://u-maskstore.eu/
When we get back to DJ'ing, if we need to DJ with a mask on, I'll definitely be wearing this for when guests come up wanting to ask for a song (the idea of someone wanting to spit in my ear whilst requesting a song makes me shudder!)
Mask? Mask? :confused: Listen son, when we restart, I'm hitting the road with Chobham Revisited.* Perspex screens eight feet tall, electric fence wire at ten feet, and if any persistent Karens get too close, the razor wire decorations should cope with that! ;) If the pernickety blighters have the temerity and affrontery to ask for requests, they can text the buggers in, blimey we are in the 21st Century after all. :D:D:D
* Search for it. WW3 nearly broke out. :riceandrob::handbag: