One time when I was laid off from a Drafting Job, I was Loafing around the Condo in Oxon Hill, Maryland and Eating a Lot of Domino's Pizza. The Guy Delivering the Pizza offered me a Job as a Driver. When Unemployed, The Correct answer to that question is Yes...
I worked there for 5 years at The Fort Washington Store run by a Black woman, Angela Powell. An Air Force Brat that Lived on Andrews Air Force Base with Her Sister and another Black Lady. There were other Store Managers... for example: Stosh, a Russian Immigrant.
There was a Giant Map of our delivery area on the Wall so We Could Find the Exact Location we were driving TO. We wrote instructions about how to find houses that were tricky... For Example, Many Houses Had no House Numbers on them or some people wanted you to go around back and knock on the basement door... Because the Landlord Lived in the Upstairs House and they were renting out the basement. We had a Rule that the Pizza had to be Delivered within 30 Minutes or the Customer Got $3.00 Off. The Delivery area was designed so every home was within 20 Minutes of the Store. There were some areas in the Forbidden Zone... Places we would NOT deliver to because of the Danger from Armed Robbery. We Would meet those customers in front of the 7/11 on the corner...
In General, it was a High Pay Job. We Got Minimum Wage, 18 cents per Mile and Tips. That added up to about $15.00 an Hour. What the flaw with this way of earning a living is... You Wear Out Your Car and Can't Work Anymore after it Breaks Down... The 18 cents a mile is supposed to pay for Gasoline and Repairs... But it Does not Pay for replacing the entire Car... OR... If you get in a Car Wreck, You Can't Work Anymore because Your Car is wrecked... and you are Unemployed, in the Hospital and in General... F*CKED... All these UBER Drivers Nowadays are in the Same Boat.
We had Two Armed Robberies When I Worked There. One Trouble with That Business is PILES OF CASH! Maybe $3,000 a Night. The Drivers were all given a Locked Box on the Wall of the Pizza Parlor for us to Drop any Extra Cash after a Delivery. Supposedly, We were Never to Have more than $20.00 in our pocket during a delivery... to make Change from a Cash Sale. Everything was Cash at that time... Late 1980s... No Cellphones, No GPS.
One Night, When I was NOT There, A Man Came Up to the Front of the Pizza Parlor Waving a Pistol. The Manager Quickly Locked the Front Glass Door. The Robber Fired the Gun and the Glass VANISHED! into a Pile of Broken Glass on the Floor. The Robber asked for Money and the Manager Gave Him Everything in the Cash Register... Help Yourself! What the Robber Did not Know was the Vast Majority of the Cash was still in our individual lock boxes... SO, Obviously, The Robber was NOT a Former Employee...
Another Night, The Manager took ALL the Money and Drove it to The Bank where he Planned to Put it in the Wall... a Masked Man with a Gun said... Give me that Bag... and Took Off... Every Night at about 3:00 AM the manager Drove the Deposit one Block to the Bank... That robbery was Probably Committed by a Former Employee... Because He Knew The System.
On a delivery I Met a woman named Betty-Lou and She Moved Into my Condo and we lived together raising her daughter. She was an Obese White Woman with a Half Black Child.
Eventually I quit that job due to Murders of Delivery Drivers at the Capitol Hill Pizza Parlor... I delivered in a suburb that is populated by Black Government Workers and other Black Professionals. We Did Have a Yacht Club. Many of the Homes Had Waterfront Access on the Potomac River. Vast Wealth. G Gordon Liddy (of Watergate Fame) Lived in Our Delivery Area but Always Came Into the Store to Pick up his Pizzas. We were all warned to Never Accidentally Get lost and Turn down the Long Driveway to His Home.
On Most Mornings I Smoked Marijuana before Going to Work. I did win a Safe Driver Award. $500.00 for No Accidents, No Tickets... On Friday and Saturday Nights I Would Often Work 13 Hours... Lunch, Dinner and Past Midnight...
After the first Murder I switched to delivering in Mount Vernon, Virginia and Fort Belvoir. A Safer (Whiter) Neighborhood.
Delivering to the Secret Army base was interesting. On sunny days they enforced security protocol and I was not allowed into certain buildings. However, if it was snowing, the guards just ignored security because it was cold outside... I Delivered to The Barracks, The PX, The Base Hospital and the Majors Street... Fancy Houses for Majors... an Officer's Rank.
That Delivery Area also Had The Mansion at Mount Vernon. I Delivered often to The Park Rangers at George Washington's Home. In that same neighborhood there were MANY Old Mansions... Built in the 1700s and Still Owned by the Same Families. I Delivered to the Culpepper Family... They Have a County Named for them...
On another Occasion, I took my Mom and Dad to see Mount Vernon as a Tourist Trip and On the Way Back it started to Rain... That Area is in a Very Humid Climate and It Rained so Hard I Couldn't Drive my Car... so I Pulled off the Side of the Road and Waited Five Minutes... and the Rain Ended!
On Yet Another Occasion, My Brother Martin, His Wife Patti and Daughter Nicole came to visit and we went out for Pizza at a Restaurant on Connecticut Ave... It Had Outdoor Seating... and there was a Thunderstorm Nearby... This was the VERY FIRST TIME My Niece Nicole (age Eight) had Experienced Thunder... She Freaked Out but we Calmed her Down. She grew up in SoCal and they Just Don't Have Massive Tropical Rainstorms there...
After the Second Murder of a Dominos Pizza Driver in Washington DC I drove to California... Crack Cocaine caused insanity among the residents and there was a lot of Gun Violence. I abandoned the Condo and the Mortgage company foreclosed.
My Dodge Omni Automobile Had No Brakes or Heater. If I wanted to Stop the Car, I Pulled up on the Parking Brake... I Also used Votive Candles to Warm the Car. Of Course, the Heat from the Engine did keep my feet warm even without the Fan Blowing... So I was Driving thru Tennessee and it was late at Night and Snowing so I Pulled into a Rest Stop and Lit a Candle and Went to Sleep. I Woke Up a Couple of Hours Later FREEZING... So I Drove on Down the Road to Heat up the Car... With 18 Wheelers Spraying Slush on my Windshield... Scary! and I Drove Coast to Coast... Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona and Finally... California... The First thing I Did Coming Back to California After Living on the East Coast for 12 Years was... Buy a Carl's Jr. Star Hamburger...
READ MORE of my Autobiography at:
https://gvan42.blogspot.com/2018/03/growing-up-in-los-gatos-california-in.html
We Bought a Condo at 527 B1 Wilson Bridge Dr in Oxon Hill, Maryland ... one of the 500... On the Right as You Drive down #210 towards Indian Head... Couldn't sell it when I wanted to move... so, I simply refused to pay the Mortgage and forced Arlington Mortgage to foreclose... Let THEM lose more money on a Bad Investment. https://www.trulia.com/p/md/oxon-hill/527-wilson-bridge-dr-oxon-hill-md-20745--1005875498
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