Through the Eyes of the Deliverer

The following is a poem that dictates the first-person perspective of a delivery boy and the routine he obeys. Its style is one that reflects the internal conscious or subconscious thoughts experienced by the delivery boy while he is working. This poem takes place from when he gets the food to deliver to the time he delivers the food and begins his journey back to the restaurant to deliver again. The story of the delivery boy is one of quiet impatience. He must not speed his vehicle and suffer the consequences, so as to prevent punishment, but the longer he takes to deliver his products the less likely the customer will grant him a substantial tip.

Through the Eyes of the Deliverer

by Eric W. Muller 

Lock the doors; wait in the reception; read the newspaper; read the business section, read the sports section; pick up the bags, don’t drop the food; unlock the door, put the bags in the passenger seat, make sure they don’t fall over; shut the door, don’t lock it; unlock the driver’s door, get in, turn on the light; look up the address, enter the address in the GPS, turn off the light; step on the clutch, turn on the car, let up the break, put it in first, drive; look out for cops as you cross the parking lot, don’t get caught so you don’t get a ticket, if you get a ticket the whole night goes to waste; listen to the GPS, trust in the GPS; turn left, turn right; wrong right, make a u-turn; don’t make the turns too hard or you will knock over the food; crack a window open so your car won’t smell afterwards; squint against the glare of oncoming headlights, some people are inconsiderate and drive with their high-beams on, others just have really bright lights; don’t speed, don’t rush the light, if you get a ticket the whole night is worthless; look for the house number, some people decide not to make their house numbers visible, others decide not to have them at all; park in their driveway, turn off the car, turn on the light; find their food, make sure it is actually their food and that they have all their bags, don’t forget to bring them all of their food; check the price, people always assume you know how much their orders are; get out of the car, don’t slip on the ice, if you slip and fall on the ice and ruin the food you will have to do the trip all over again, if you slip and fall on the ice you could sue the customers, if you slip and fall on the ice you could sue the restaurant, some people have ice on their front steps, don’t slip and fall or you could hurt yourself and ruin the food; wring the doorbell, wait for the people to answer; be friendly so that they tip you, if they don’t tip you don’t do anything about it so they don’t create bad business; give them the food, take the money, thank them, walk away; don’t slip on the ice, if you fall you could maybe sue them or the restaurant and hurt yourself; open the door, get inside, step on the clutch, turn on the car, put it in first, drive back to the restaurant; there’s never anything good on the radio and I’m tired of listening to this CD, Pulse 87 is usually good music for delivering; what if they don’t tip you and their house was really far away? You mean to tell me you’re the type of guy that has the nerve to demand money at a complete strangers house?