Special Delivery - With Lydia

 

"TAKE IT AROUND THE BACK!"

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23th November 2017

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Talofa my lovelies and welcome to another blog

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 Today was my day off from my “office” job & so I decided to spend the day with my mum who is a courier driver. For confidentiality purposes I will refrain from mentioning which company she works for and which stores we delivered to. In less than a day, I went from being a respected front office staff member, to a dirty, grubby Islander delivering packages; at least that’s what I was made to feel like. I never knew that delivering a different type of service also meant receiving a different type of “respect”. Today is the first time I have ever worn anything high visi for more than an hour & massive respect to those that do this type of job day after day.

Originally, the plan was for me to sit in the van whilst Mum delivered her packages ranging from 55 inch tv’s, car parts, to small pieces of papers. But I couldn’t stand seeing my mum struggle to sort through boxes & paperwork & so I threw on a vest & did all the sorting, pulling, pushing, hopping in & out of the truck for her. The job was different from my usual stand behind my desk and tap a keyboard ; it was extremely physically demanding & literally put strain on every muscle in my body BUT i could handle it.

On the other hand, what I couldn’t handle though was the people that I came into contact with whilst delivering parcels. Lord knows I try my best to engage in decent conversation (even more so because I know that I'm an introvert)  but I always smile when interacting with any client/customer/guest but damn these people were just different. & I mean, shitty different, ai-kalo different, fa’aoso kiapolo different, ova ma le Lagi le mafaufau different.

For those who know me, understand how big I am (as in literal size) but I tell you now, today i felt small, not in size but within my flipping heart and soul. Each time that some one refused to hold the door open for me as I stumbled in holding multiple boxes, I became less confident in what I was doing. Each time the office ladies & receptionists refused to touch the boxes I was holding because they were “too dirty” (they weren’t), I felt a little more discouraged. Each time a smile wasn’t returned & a reply wasn’t heard of when I would wish them a “fantastic day”, I despised being in a high visi.

I’m not quite sure what it is that makes people assume that wearing high visi clothing, suddenly drops your IQ & all common sense vanishes. I had to stop & think for a second whether the steel cap boots that we were wearing said “treat me like shit, I’m barely human” or maybe having my hair in a bun magically allows other to treat me as a machine & not a human being. Today, was the first day that I have “worked” as a blue collar worker & each delivery made me more frustrated that, my mum and many others go through this every single day.

At my “office job”, (more like Serviced Apartments ), I know for a fact that even before today, when a delivery driver came in with a parcel, I greeted them exactly the same as I would a Corporate guest. I never stopped my interaction with the delivery driver , in order to speak to another corporate guest. With every bit of strength in me, I allow & ensure that who ever delivers parcels to our property feel welcome, even if it’s just once in a day. I’m just absolutely disappointed at all the companies that I came into contact with today as a “courier driver”, because the “service” I received was disgusting.

Many readers by now would be defending the actions of rude receptionists and shitty front office people but for me, I just don't fw anyone who decides to belittle someone else over some shitty reason. Many others have a different perspective on this but for me, you can be absolutely phenomenal at your job but if you don’t know how to treat people fairly & equally when necessary, then you ain’t shit. On the real, I just don’t fw anyone who makes them self seem more superior than someone else because of the role that they play in a company.

So next time you decide to scream at the delivery driver to "TAKE IT AROUND THE BACK", and then proceed to role your eyes and sigh, take your ego and attitude around the back and shove it ... up your sleeve. I’ve said it before & I’ll say it again, grind how you grind. I’ll continue to do the same , & always remember to BE NICE !

Cya x



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For more blogs, follow the links below

- Grind how ya Grind

https://lydiarees11.blogspot.com/2017/11/grindhowyougrind-lydiarees.html

Life it too short to be discriminating against each other because of our employment type.

- Heads or Tales
https://lydiarees11.blogspot.com/2017/11/headsortailsuce.html

When enjoying a McDonald's Caesar wrap resulted in an angry rant