So I’m enjoying this delivery gig. When I first started driving around South Beach, delivering food for La Sandwicherie, I absolutely LOVED the job. Three months into this, and I feel pretty much the same way. I certainly don’t intend to do this forever; it’s a means to an end. But everything about it really sits well with me.

When I was hired, I thought I would be just driving my scooter around, giving people food. Nope. It’s MUCH more involved. And MUCH more menial. Half of my time is spent delivering, the rest of the time is spent doing food prep (cutting vegetables, making vinaigrette, etc) and washing dishes.

It’s sufficiently mind-numbing, making vinaigrettes. There is nothing to think about laying out hundreds upon hundreds of little one-ounce cups into neat little rows. Filling each cup with sauce. Refilling the bottle as needed. Making more vinaigrette as needed. Placing lids on all the little cups. Snapping them down tightly. Every time that I do it, it’s a personal challenge to me to see how fast I can make them while making sure that all the little cups have a near perfect amount of vinaigrette. I get thrilled when I make them quickly. There’s no reward in it. No job bonus. Just personal satisfaction.

Dishwashing

I love washing dishes, actually. I find it to be a supremely relaxing activity. I attribute this to my years in boarding school. I attended The Stony Brook School, a private Christian school on Long Island, decades ago and the students all had jobs and they all rotated. When I worked on kitchen crew, I found that I really enjoyed staying in the kitchen washing pots and pans and plates and silverware. Non-stop. The rest of the student body (except for about 10-15 kids) would be in the dining room, eating their three-course meals in coat and tie and dress, and a crew of us would be in the back handling the kitchen (except the cooking). I loved sinking into scrubbing pots. Losing myself in the simplicity of cleaning a dish so that it could be used again. I loved the rhythm of the kitchen.

So it’s enjoyable where I work now. Although, I will confess that it gets somewhat overwhelming when I’m out for a couple of hours at a time and when I come back, there is a mountain of dishes. Thankfully, when it’s like that, someone else usually helps out. Because if not, then I’m at work well past my shift. Still, it’s relaxing.

Delivery

I have a great job. I deliver food to people. Food which people have ordered because they’re excited about it. I deliver something which makes them happy. I’ve found that there’s really only one thing about delivering that’s stressful: taking longer than normal. So I get anxiety when deliveries run late. I don’t like to disappoint people. Sometimes, I have learned, though, it is inevitable. Most of the time, orders come in for delivery at well-spaced intervals allowing ample time to make a timely delivery. Sometimes, though, everyone orders all at once. And from the far corners of the beach. So I might leave the shop with four or five deliveries. And I know when I do that the person getting the last delivery isn’t going to be as happy as they could be. I don’t care about the tip. Tips balance out anyway. But it bums me out that they aren’t as happy as they could’ve been.

There are a lot of things about this job that I love. It’s highly entertaining. Details of life pass before my eyes that might have escaped it otherwise. Everyday, I get to have dozens of brief exchanges with perfect strangers. I get to see smiling faces. I get to watch the ebb and flow of humanity with each passing hour. Crowds shifting on streets. A man with a dog. A girl with tube socks. Police escorting elderly across the street. Hotel elevators. Front desks. Concierges. Poolside bars. Walking out on the sands of the beach to deliver smoothies to vacationers. Regular customers. Smiles. Glimpses into the lives of others.

No small thing

One of the things I love at work is that they play Pandora. At night, whoever is working that shift chooses the station they want to listen to. I enjoy the diversity. But during the day… it’s peculiar. I can’t even tell you how many times I have heard “Girl from Ipanema” and Stan Getz/Joao Gilberto at work. It sits very well with me. I find it strangely coincidental how the music played there matches the soundtrack of my life. I feel as though I couldn’t be in a better place, working there. That it’s appropriate.

Carlos

Pictured above. Carlos is a fixture at the shop. He’s been driving for La Sandwicherie for over nine years. He tends to rub people the wrong way. He tells customers to keep their one dollar tip; that they probably need it more than him. I always wish I could be a fly on the wall at his deliveries. He’s funny and entertaining. He has a very harsh exterior. I remember when I started working, I thought he hated me. Then I realized that he’s just that way.

And I wish we talked about more than just “the delivery”. I love listening to him say “delivery.” He’s a good man. And very kind. It just doesn’t always come out that way. Like when he told one of the girls at work the other day, “I don’t care for you!” Funny. I love when he has some advice for me and starts with “Listen, my friend.”

I look at Carlos and see me in ten years: an elderly Latin fellow, zipping around town on a scooter, working the day shift. I guess I need to buy some plaid if it’s going down like that. (It’s not, I kid. I have an adequate amount of plaid. Which is none. Plus, I’m not from Ecuador or wherever it is that Carlos is from. God, I feel so badly that I can’t remember. We’ve been working together three months. You’d think I’d remember.)

Enjoy

I just got called into work early so I need to end this and get ready for another day around South Beach. And it looks like it’s going to be one of those days where I get drenched to the bone. Where my shoes are soggy and squishy by the end of the day. It’s okay. I’ve learned how to mentally deal with the rain on days like this. Mostly. The challenge when it pours is to not let my spirit get as damp as my shoes. And to not look like a wet dog when I show up at someone’s door.

On the awning of La Sandwicherie is a phrase that fits well with me as well: “Enjoy life every day.” I see that each day. And I do.