The Delivery Man
To cook or not to cook was a question me and my wife were debating for a while that evening. As the lockdown is on in Toronto we are left with options of either cook at home or order-in. Laziness to cook anything prevailed and order-in was the chosen option.
We zeroed in on a restaurant and placed our order using a food delivery app. As we got down to track down the order, we saw the delivery person walking instead of driving which is usually a norm here especially when the outside temperature is -3 degree Celsius and snowing. A curious choice I thought.
As it was a contactless delivery the guy put the food bag at the door, knocked at the door and was about to leave. Since I was curious to see who made the choice to walk in this weather, I opened and to my shock it was an old man who looked easily in his 7Os, shivering and struggling with his phone. Upon seeing me he nodded and thanked me and prepared to leave. While he mustered a smile but the voice gave the pain away. Just those two words “Thank You” were layered with appreciation, pain, exhaustion in equal measure.
I thanked him back, he nodded again and left but I stood still at the door for a couple of minutes shocked to see a man in his 70s delivering food on foot in snow. His voice reverberated in my mind for a bit. I once again realized how lucky I am that I was on the other side of the door in this weather and in the current scenario of pandemic.
We did increase our tip for the man but wondered how tough things must have been for him that he is compelled to do this at this age that too during COVID 19.
This is one example of privilege some of us enjoy, the privilege of being in our comfy home while a lot slog it out in sun and snow. We worry about not being able to go out or live our normal lives but there are people who have to be at the forefront and deal with a lot more trouble than we do. When we compare our troubles with such people, we should realize how trivial our complaints are.
The reason I shared this story is to encourage everyone to take a step back, look around and realize how fortunate you are when compared to some people and be grateful for it. Also, be grateful and be kind to people are keeping us safe and comfortable during these testing times.
“There are people who would love to have your bad days!”