And Now I'm a Dasher!
Let me be clear right away: I did not become one of Santa’s flying reindeer.
These days, Dasher is the job title of a delivery person for DoorDash. DoorDash started out as a restaurant food delivery business in California, but lately it’s evolving to become more like Amazon than like Seamless.
How do I know this? Well, as many of you are aware, my son Jack was one of the first 75 DoorDash employees. No, he wasn’t a Dasher but rather a Sales Executive. In 6 years, he has become the National Director of Sales and done well enough for himself to return to New York and purchase a house in Brooklyn.
So well done Jack, but that’s not what this post is all about.
You may recall that I noted very early in my blog that one of the areas of life I wanted to explore was work - - not from the C-Suite, where I spent the last 20 years, but work from the other end of the spectrum - - real work. Thus I became an Uber driver, and wrote about it extensively here on my blog. My interest is in seeing what that kind of work feels like . . . . how the policies and programs invented in the C-Suite impact the front line workers . . . . what the front line worker needs to do to feel satisfied with their job . . . . and what workers might see that senior management is blind to.
So with that intention, I figured: why not become a Dasher? It already seemed to be an organization where at least one member of the family was successful! And it was easy to go from candidate to employee. Uber was tough, with 11 steps to complete before the first dollar was earned. With DoorDash it was simpler: complete the application, pass the background check, and take a 2 hour training course. I passed with flying colors…and headed out the door with my red Doordash insulated bags, ready to earn money the very same day!
So what have I learned as a Dasher?
— It’s kind of fun when the weather is nice, and not so much when the weather is bad. Unfortunately, people tend to order for food delivery a lot more in bad weather for obvious reasons. But the good news is they tend to show their appreciation for making their lives easier with bigger tips;
— The nicest people you’re going to meet are the restaurant employees who hand you the prepared food. They smile at you and you really feel like you’re teammates with them. It’s amazing how much it lifts your spirits;
— The big satisfier in a customer service job is… satisfying the customer. It makes you feel good about doing a tough job when you make someone happy! Unfortunately, you don’t always experience that feedback as a Dasher . . . in fact, more than you might imagine, I delivered orders to a hand my customer extended out of their apartment door to quickly take the food. A good Dasher has to get over that in a hurry, realizing you’ve done your job and made the lives of your customers easier, and they appreciate it whether they express it to you or not. The bottom line: it’s not about you, so walk away realizing that you’ve done a good job whether the customer expresses it or not;
— It’s baffling how many deliveries are from restaurants only a couple blocks away from the apartment you’re delivering to. I guess that shouldn’t be surprising - - if you don’t want to leave your apartment in New York City, you don’t need to. That’s true for a lot of things;
— One of the great attractions of the job is being a true gig worker. You work when you want, where you want, how often you want, how long you want. There’s a big movement nationally to make gig workers into employees, but let me tell you based on my conversations with my fellow Dashers, the last thing they want is to lose their independence;
— One final disclaimer: as you all know, at least in this town, Dashers are often bikers. I was, too, but I also dashed in my BMW on the rainy days. If that’s not cheating, I don’t know what is! But remember, at least for this Dasher, the time I spent Dashing wasn’t about earning but about learning!
— The DoorDash app for Dashers is a thing of beauty. Once you start to learn the ropes, you can make your delivery life a lot more efficient and profitable by your choice of neighborhood and the nature of orders from the particular restaurant. Of course, if you’re a smart Dasher you realize you’re going to be traveling all over certain parts of the city, and doing the best for yourself and the best for the customers is pretty much the same thing;
— And talk about paycheck efficiency! You get paid daily if you want, all by direct deposit. It’s the rare Dasher who’s not doing the job for the money (like maybe just me), but getting paid immediately is really special in any job.
So for all you New Yorkers - - and I single you out only because that’s where I Dash - - order from DoorDash for 2 reasons.
They’re the best delivery service.
I may not have been your Uber driver, but I may just be your Dasher!
