Over the past couple of years, it's become more apparent than ever that delivery drivers are one of the backbones of our working population. From those with bona fide online shopping addictions to the people who are unable to get their groceries any other way, everyone finds themselves waiting in for that vital knock on the door at some point.
It's not a perfect system, as anyone who has fallen foul of flying packages or porch pirates can testify. Nonetheless, most of us have found ourselves relying on these services more and more often, and it doesn't look like they're going anywhere anytime soon.
As we've got used to the system, it's become easy to take for granted that almost anything we desire will be couriered to our doorstep with a minimum of drama, for a small fee. However, some people take their entitlement to this service way too far. These attitudes have even infiltrated the meme world, with the "Cassie Hiding In A Bathtub" meme sparking arguments after it was used to admit that many people don't want to speak to DoorDash drivers when they deliver their food.
Unfortunately, there is evidence of behavior even worse than that out in real life. This has been brought into uncomfortable focus with a viral tweet that shamed a nightmare delivery customer. With a photo, it reveals that a driver was given an unusual and humiliating request when handing over the package.
Asking the worker to speak into their Ring doorbell camera on arrival, the customer wanted them to give thanks for apparently "keeping [them] employed". Putting aside the flawed logic that a single delivery justified the driver's employment, the demand was blatantly offensive — and not really within their job description. All service-based jobs have a duty of care to the customer. That being said, there's a line between expecting a level of professionalism and blatantly trying to exploit the individual who is only trying to get through another workday.
Many Twitter users were outraged by this display of entitlement, with some suggesting that customers, as well as drivers should be rated and penalized for providing a poor experience. There's rarely a good excuse for rude behavior, especially when the likelihood is that you are not having any face-to-face interaction. While many might assume that it's not too hard to remember that there is a human behind the uniform, some feel all too ready to forget that this is the case. There's nothing humorous about trying to embarrass someone who's just trying to do their job.
