nearly the End of term
We had a very cold and quiet week, but things picked up on Friday, like that one friend who always shows up late to the party. I’ve been doing deliveries whenever I can, though it’s continued to be slow. I’m starting to think the app is more of a "waiting for something to happen" simulator than a delivery tool. Still, I’ll persevere and continue working as I have been. On average, I’m spending about 3-6 hours active on the app. I usually turn it on around 16:30, hoping to catch a few orders before the evening madness (or lack thereof) sets in. If nothing comes through by 18:30, I usually call it quits. However, if I do get an order, I tend to stay out and cycle around like a dog chasing its tail, hoping for something more—though this often results in covering miles without getting a single bite.
It’s still nice to be out cycling, but it becomes tedious when only orders that are too far to accept come through. For example, I’ve had orders offering £17 but taking 1.5 hours to complete, requiring a long, lonely trip to the middle of nowhere. The journey always feels like some kind of existential crisis, especially when you realise that you’ll be delivering either someone’s entire food shop or a McDonald’s meal that’s colder than the weather by the time you get there.
One delivery was especially strange. Sometimes, you get orders to a lorry, and the address comes up as something like B1GF457, with a description of the truck or the name on the trailer. But this one had none of that. The drop-off point was a dark, empty car park in an industrial estate, with barely any lighting, just a couple of parked cars that looked like they’d been abandoned since the '90s. I tried calling the customer, and a groggy-sounding man answered, but I couldn’t make out a word he said. I messaged him, but there was no response.
Once the timer for the customer runs out, the app asks you to either leave the order in a "safe" place or return it to the pick-up location. Since McDonald's was across town, I tried calling again, feeling increasingly like a lost character in a crime thriller. While waiting, I noticed a faint light appear in one of the parked cars. That’s when the paranoia really kicked in. I began to suspect that the person I was trying to reach might have been watching me from one of the cars, like some kind of stealthy, delivery-obsessed voyeur.
I had several thoughts running through my head. Initially, I wondered if they were planning to rob me, but then I realised I was on a bike, not in a car. The only way they’d be able to make off with anything was if they had a giant bike rack on the back of their car. What was more likely, though, was that they were involved in some extracurricular activities and were possibly a little too high to manage their own delivery.
In the end, I left the order in a "safe" place, took a picture as proof, and bolted. It stayed on my mind for a while, so I called Uber support to explain the situation. After delivering my second order, I stayed out for another hour, but no more orders came through, so I decided to call it a day. It was an eventful evening, but not for the reasons you’d hope. Here’s to hoping the holidays pick up. If not, I might start delivering… well, anything that isn't food.
