Ms. B

One of our policies at headquarters is to never ever enter anyone's home no matter what. I was told in orientation a couple weekends ago that even if it's pouring down rain and a customer seems like they're just trying to be polite, or if they are just being polite, you never can know what's on the other side of that door. But at my headquarters, we have one exception to that rule - Ms. B.

Ms. B is an older woman who has been a customer at headquarters for years. No one really knows how long. But she always orders the exact same thing. I don't know how often she orders, but it's multiple times a week. My boss showed me her order history, and it goes back forever, and her total is always $10.37. Apparently she got hooked on some special a long time ago, and the special doesn't even exist anymore, but we still always give her the discount. Ms. B is bed-ridden, so in order to get her pizza to her, we just walk in her house (I guess the nurse leaves it open for us when they know we're coming) and take the pizza back to her bedroom. I was the day driver today, so I got to take Ms. B's order to her.

For some reason it just made my entire day better, and more sad, all at the same time.

We had really slow day...I only made 8 runs in the 9 hours I was there, and most of the runs were in the last 2 hours of my shift. So when we got the call from Ms. B in the early afternoon, it was a relief to get out of the store (and take a break from the day that consisted of folding boxes and cutting sandwich bread, but mostly folding boxes) and drive somewhere. I'd heard a little bit about her from a few different people at our headquarters, and pretty much already knew the situation, you know? But when I was walking up to the door, I just felt weird, like am I really supposed to be going to this woman's bedroom that I've never met before? But I walked right in anyway, and kind of hesitatingly poked my head in every room in the first hallway, unsure of which was hers. But I finally found her room at the end of the hallway; she was propped up watching tv, and when she saw me in my headquarter's uniform (complete with tucked in shirt, black pants, white socks that cover the ankle, and of course...the hat), she smiled and perked up a bit as I told her my name and that I was there to deliver her pizza. The way she responded made me feel like I was doing her some great favor, like I was actually an in home patient care assistant or something like that. As I walked over, I was wondering how to hand her the pizza and everything, because she couldn't really move that well. She asked me first to put the phone that was sitting on her lap in the charger on her bedside table, and we exchanged the pizza and the money. I noticed that she had all the things she would need for her day spread out around her on her bed, and some dirty dishes probably from her breakfast. I asked her if there was anything else I could do for her, and she just asked me to turn on the fan and lock her in when I left. It's amazing how much she trusts anyone in our uniform.

My boss told me a story about a headquarters driver in Memphis who saved an elderly lady's life. This lady was also a regular, and had been for years. They hadn't heard from her in a few days in the store, and so they called her house to check in on her and see how she was doing, but there was no answer. So after a few tries, one of the drivers decided to check on her after she clocked out for the day. She went to her house and knocked on the door, but there was no answer. She tried the door and it was locked. She went around and asked a few neighbors if they had noticed anything, like if she had left her house or anything like that, and none of them knew anything. So the driver decided to call the police. They got in the house and found the lady on the floor...she had fallen and wasn't able to move enough to reach the phone for help. But because of the driver deciding to see what was going on, they got there in time to save her life.
My boss told me if we ever didn't hear from Ms. B, we would do the same thing. But Ms. B has a nurse that helps her, and a daughter in town, so we think she's in better hands.

Anyway, my trip to Ms. B's made me feel like I was part of something special today, even though delivering pizza just doesn't seem like it should be a big deal. Apparently when she calls the store and somebody answers with our typical headquarters scripted opening lines, she asks them "Do you know me?" because it always says her name on the caller ID. I think that's hilarious, and precious. It's really refreshing to see a relationship that has been built for so long that it's not just business anymore. At least not on our end.