Pam does this every year. She prints out this festive sign, making sure she includes every major delivery service at the top, then fills the box with bottled waters, nabs, and lots of candy bars. Since we get several deliveries a day for weeks, the box has to be replenished often. Yesterday, around 5:30, I heard Lucy barking her head off, looked up and saw a guy walking up with several boxes in his hands. I can’t recall if he was FedEx or UPS, but it doesn’t really matter, I suppose. Anyway, As he placed the boxes on the porch I saw him look down at the box, then gently open it. I opened the front door to get the boxes and thanked him for his hard work. He looks up at me and says, “Wow, this is really nice. I haven’t had anything to eat since 10:30, I’m starved!!” Then, I told him to take however much he wanted since we were going to have to refill it anyway. “Aww man, thanks.”
Then he started to dig through and found a Snicker’s bar and a Reese’s Peanut butter cup. “I love these,” he says, “You sure?”
“Absolutely!” I answered.
He took two of each, then hustled back to his truck and floored it on to the next stop.
Look, I know its a job, like any other. We all work hard. Nobody hands out candy bars to their mechanic or the cashier at the grocery store. They work hard every day too. But, I don’t know—there’s something about these delivery guys and girls at Christmas. Every time I see one of them they are busting it, hustling all over the place. We sit on our comfortable sofas in our pajamas, drinking hot chocolate ordering this and that on our laptops. Meanwhile in a distribution center a thousand miles away workers are flying around the warehouse in response to all of our clicking. Then, in what feels an awful lot like magic, our heart’s desire gets delivered on our doorstep 24 hours later.
But, its not magic. It’s the result of a logistics operation unheard of in the 4000 year history of commerce on this planet, whereby invisible orders sent through the internet halfway around the world wind up under our tree with speed and efficiency impossible a decade ago. At the heart of this vast, delivery system juggernaut are the men and women who lay it at your door, working 12 hour days, seven days a week during the holidays. Yes, they are getting paid overtime, making more money than they will any other time during the year. But, it sure feels good to show them how grateful you are that they do what they do.
So, as we get swept up in the hustle and bustle, lets look around at the frantic people serving us. Smile, tell them what a great job they are doing, and tip them generously. There’s no better way to get in the Christmas Spirit.
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