People I’ve Met in Abbotsford

I’ve been living in this lovely city for three years. The quiet atmosphere here truly relaxes me, and on good-weather days, this place is beautiful beyond words. I genuinely enjoy living here.

I work as a delivery driver, mainly serving one restaurant. I’m not an employee there—I simply provide delivery service. My income comes from delivery fees and customer tips, while my investment is my time, my car, its maintenance, and my insurance.

Many people order takeout through platforms such as UberEats, DoorDash, and Skip. I tried working with those APP too, but eventually gave up. Imagine a driver rushing through traffic, waiting anxiously in restaurants, only to receive two or three dollars at the end. Many customers do not tip, and when that happens, the time investment and gas cost cannot be covered. Drivers are not providing free service, yet sometimes it becomes exactly that—service at a loss.

I tried declining low-paying orders, but these APPs penalize drivers for doing so. After receiving a $0.01 tip from someone, I decided to stop working with them. If you use these APPs, please think about it: when delivery fees only amount to a few dollars, how does a driver survive?

The restaurant I currently serve has a minimum delivery fee policy. That allows me, at the very least, to break even even if I receive no tips. However, even this is barely enough. During rush hours, restaurant gets extremely busy, and I often need to wait a long time before an order is ready. By the time I finish delivering, the time I spent may already exceed the value of my income. (The minimum wage in BC is currently $17.85 per hour.)

Among my customers, roughly 40% fall into what I would consider extremely stingy. Some people spend $200 on food delivery and still do not tip a single cent. In cases like that, assuming the delivery fee only covers the basic cost, my service becomes free. What’s unfortunate is that such customers never feel thankful for that free service. They believe that paying for the food alone entitles them to receive it without recognizing that someone waited in the restaurant, then drove through rain or bad weather just to bring the meal to their doorstep.

I’ve met people whose actions truly shocked me. Perhaps their home lives are unhappy; perhaps they’re having a bad day. But they choose to release that negativity onto a delivery driver. One man once placed his credit card on the ground and told me, “Here’s your money.” Another customer entered his neighbour’s address by mistake; nobody answered the door, and his phone was not reachable. After multiple attempts, I finally heard his voice yelling at the restaurant over the phone while I was still on the street. When I eventually delivered to the correct address, instead of acknowledging his mistake or apologizing, he greeted me with insults. When I warned him to watch his language, he lifted the payment terminal and acted as though he was about to hit me with it.

I come from another country. I know that negativity exists everywhere, and when facing danger, sometimes you fight, and sometimes you endure. In that moment, I thought of my family and my child. I chose safety and walked away. But that moment left a deep mark in my memory.

Even so, I still enjoy this job. I have met customers who are warm, kind, and appreciative. Some of them truly understand what it means for someone to serve them during terrible weather, and a small group of them are even generous enough to make this job worth continuing.

Every day I drive through this city, across busy streets and quiet neighbourhoods. When work is busy, all I think about is getting food delivered quickly so people can enjoy it fresh. When work slows down, I sometimes drive up into the hills, enjoy the scenery, and observe how peacefully many people live here.

I love this place. I wish everyone well.

And please—be kind to delivery drivers, and understand what their work takes.

Thank you. Merry Christmas.