Dox47

[midlifeaspie]

You don't seem to have an Ask Away thread.  For a member who has been around as long as you have it seems tragic that not everyone has had the chance to know you better.  I'll start.

Is delivering pizza really a career? 

How does one define a career anyway?  By accomplishment or by length of service?

Is 30 a little old to be delivering pizza for a living?

Is pizza delivery really an "industry" that requires it's own internet forum to discuss?

Did you ever get your uniform problems sorted out?

[midlifeaspie]

Did you ever get any takers on your costume?  What were you selling it for?

[Buzz Killington]

Boy, you are a bit behind on me aren't you.  I posted that same pic on WP back when I made the costume, 09 I believe it was.  I recall getting about $100 for it, which was pretty good for me since I'd made most of it myself on a metal lathe.

Less a career and more a way to pay the bills.  It worked ok for me, the customer interaction was limited enough and the pay was decent for the low amount of accountability you have.  I could really tell some stories about that job though, drugs, guns, girls, almost any scam or hustle you can think of goes on in late night delivery places. 

Anything else you want to know?

['Butterflies']

You seem like a bit of an internet hardman.

Do you feel that your tough guy reputation is damaged by the fact that you have been bitching and whining on a pizza delivery boys forum, about all pizza boys uniforms being too similar?

[midlifeaspie]

Have you ever thought about unionizing pizza delivery boys?

How many pizza chains have you worked for?

Do you aspire to gain any new and potentially more profitable skill sets?

[Frolic_Fun]

Why do a lot of libertarians associate with guns and pizza?

[Scrapheap]

Quit dragging libertarians into this!    We don't claim as being libertarian. 

[Frolic_Fun]

Can't beat guns 'n pizza.

(Ironically I'd have both too if I had the chance)

[Buzz Killington]

You seem like a bit of an internet hardman.

Do you feel that your tough guy reputation is damaged by the fact that you have been bitching and whining on a pizza delivery boys forum, about all pizza boys uniforms being too similar?

Nope, I've never hidden that I've slung pie off and on for years, I'm not ashamed about making $20/hr to drive around smoking cigars and dropping off food.  Why would working for a living affect my "tough guy" image?  Guns and such are my hobby and occasionally my job, but I do have bills to pay and I'm not too proud to take other work when I have to.  Ever worked in a late night restaurant?  Probably more guns, knives and clubs in there than in a respectable street gang, it's an interesting work environment.

[Buzz Killington]

Have you ever thought about unionizing pizza delivery boys?

How many pizza chains have you worked for?

Do you aspire to gain any new and potentially more profitable skill sets?

Unionizing isn't really my thing, and restaurant workers of any type are usually so transient that it would be nearly impossible anyway.  Some drivers are really into that, I've never been one of them.

2 pizza chains, one independent pizza shop and one chain of hot wing shops that I worked for in 2 different states.  Like I said, it's easy work that pays well, it got me through college and helped me out from time to time after, no big thing.

I do have a bunch of profitable skill sets, I'm a precision metal worker with machine tools, I'm a welder, I can do woodwork, I can repair almost anything mechanical and a lot of electronic stuff.  I can build a gun from scratch or restore a rusted heap to working order.  I can cook, small or commercial scale, I can run a retail store or restaurant.  Want me to keep going?  Delivery was what I happened to be doing when I got diagnosed, so my screen names overlap there, it's far from the only thing I've ever done.

Any more questions?

[Buzz Killington]

Why do a lot of libertarians associate with guns and pizza?

Probably because pizza drivers are often armed, and if you get into the political side of that libertarianism is the best thing to be.  Think about it, you're alone, at night, with a sign on your car announcing to the world you're carrying food and cash, and you have to go where the customer says.  That is a perfect example of a situation in which you have to be self reliant, hence the guns and the libertarianism.

['Butterflies']

You seem like a bit of an internet hardman.

Do you feel that your tough guy reputation is damaged by the fact that you have been bitching and whining on a pizza delivery boys forum, about all pizza boys uniforms being too similar?

Nope, I've never hidden that I've slung pie off and on for years, I'm not ashamed about making $20/hr to drive around smoking cigars and dropping off food.  Why would working for a living affect my "tough guy" image?  Guns and such are my hobby and occasionally my job, but I do have bills to pay and I'm not too proud to take other work when I have to.  Ever worked in a late night restaurant?  Probably more guns, knives and clubs in there than in a respectable street gang, it's an interesting work environment.

I wasn't talking about your job. I was talking about your posts on the pizza forum about the uniform. They make you sound more Liberace than Chuck Norris.

 Over the years, I've worked for a number of different shops and worn a lot of different uniforms, and have drawn some conclusions about the drawbacks of many of them, and how to improve them. In addition to the many technical problems I'm going to list, I offer that most delivery uniforms are indistinguishable from shop to shop, defeating the whole purpose of wearing them. Despite wearing a full uniform (red logo polo + khakis and ball cap), I was always mistaken for a competitor's employee when I worked for WingZone, despite carrying a very distinctive bag and using an illuminated car topper. I feel that much of the point of a uniform is to look distinctive, so following the herd might not be the best strategy in this case. Many shops go with the traditional khaki pants, primary colored polo shirt, and possibly a khaki baseball cap,


I'll start with the shirt. Drivers need pockets, preferably at least two on the front of the shirt. It makes keeping track of pens, money, cell phones and other delivery paraphernalia much easier, especially since you don't want to be digging a cell out of a pants pocket while driving. Next is the color, light colors pick up stains such as pizza sauce, road grime and grease much more readily than darker colors such as black, my preferred color. I'm going to post a pic of my ideal shirt at the end here, and optimally it would have reflective white piping for safety at night, just to address that now since I'm stating my preference for black. Finally, I think that the polo design itself is not optimal, since it's hot in the summer if worn with an undershirt, soils quickly due to the open weave design, and looks sloppy when oversized, as is common in the industry. I think that a synthetic material black with white highlights button up shirt designed to be worn open over a solid color undershirt would be much better in several ways. First the pockets, much better looking and common on this style of shirt. Next is the comfort factor, such a shirt could be worn open in the summer and buttoned in the winter, reducing sweating which can be a turnoff for a customer, and by being worn over something will be less likely to show sweat stains and such. Finally, with an open design sizing becomes far less of an issue, since an oversized shirt of this style wouldn't look nearly as bad as an oversized tucked in polo does. Here is a picture of one plain example of the style I favor, in other words a bowling shirt:

Add a reflective logo on the front shirt pocket and a big one on the back, maybe some reflective piping, and it's just about perfect.

Next up are the pants, typically khaki slacks. My biggest problem with these is wear and tear, especially if you don't have shirt pockets and are always reaching into your pants pockets to make change. Money is dirty, and you'll invariably end up with black streaks near the pockets that simply don't come out. In addition, getting in and out of the car often leaves a black line across the back of one pant leg, and this too can be a difficult stain to remove. Don't even get me started on pizza sauce, and after my WingZone experience, fryer grease and buffalo sauce. Black jeans or black khakis not only look more professional, but wear better too. If they're black cargo khakis, even better, since drivers need all the pocket space they can get, extra pens or packets of cheese and peppers carried in those cargoes can really help the impression on the customer. I eventually got my Wingzone to agree to allow black jeans and slacks (except when corporate came through) because we looked like auto-mechanics otherwise. It really did make a huge difference for the better for our appearance across the board, since no one wants to see a greasy server, it just looked bad all around.

Which brings me to the baseball cap. Frankly, I've yet to see the person who looks good in one of these, nothing screams "low class" like a dirty, creased ball cap, which after a few months in the average shop any uniform cap will be. I was told once that one of the chains that I worked with had done a customer poll about the ball cap, and narrowly decided to keep it because some women customers said it was "reassuring" to look out the peephole and see the cap. It sounds kind of BS-ish to me, since if you're really that surprised when 30-40 minutes after you order pizza the doorbell rings, a simple "who is it?" would clear up that mystery just as easily. Honestly, when I wear one with sunglasses (a driver essential during certain hours) I look like a bank robber, I just have that sort of face. Plus, per my earlier comment, they do nothing to distinguish your shop from the competition. If I had to pick a uniform cap for my own hypothetical shop, I'd be tempted to go with something like a Kangol newsboy cap with my logo on it, at least that would be distinctive and stylish. Bottom line, I feel that not only does the ball cap do nothing for a shop, but that it makes anyone wearing one look worse and less worthy of respect than without one, so out it should go.

So, to summarize for the impatient and semi-literate:

Bowling style logo shirt with reflective piping and reflective logo on back and front pocket.

Black khakis or jeans, especially cargo khakis

Ditch the ball cap!

I've seen some places that give employees a personalized embroidered jacket after 6 months on, I always thought that was kind of cool. If you're talking snow, I don't think that supplying a uniform jacket would really be desirable, since it would be too heavy to be cost effective, and you'd need a different one for the summer. I always wanted a lapel pin or something similar for my jackets, but I often wore a sport coat during the spring and fall, and although the customers loved it, I wouldn't call it a practical delivery uniform by any stretch. My favorite recent jacket for driving is what I call my "Anton Chigurh jacket"

I couldn't be happier with the response to this thread so far, I knew I couldn't be the only one who thought that the standard uniform looked terrible. I think it is one of those cases where a committee designed the outfit to offend as few people as possible, and consequentially offended everyone. Then the ugly suits got entrenched, and well if the big boys are doing it, it must be right, right? It does sort of come back to my long standing beef with procedures being designed without consulting the people who actually do the work, no experienced driver would have chosen khaki as the best color for pants worn while working.

I see the uniform as an area that the savvy independent store can use to it's advantage when competing with their corporate rivals, my local beloved Pagliacci has gone to green shirts with "nature-y" logo to call attention to their new biodegradable boxes. Believe me, that sort of thing goes over well in Seattle, and no one else wears a green shirt, instant identification. It also can have a significant effect on employee morale, I know I was always happier working somewhere that I wasn't embarrassed to be seen in the uniform of. Happy employees are also harder working employees, and who doesn't want that? Finally, having a good looking work uniform can help draw a better class of employee to your shop, and improve the quality of the ones you already have. If you want people to act like professionals, treat them like professionals, and professionals don't wear dirty khakis, oversize polo shirts in awful colors, and especially not baseball caps!

I'm not really criticizing you. You obviously have very strong opinions on how a pizza boy should dress, and I'm sure your ideas are simply fantastic.

It's just that, from the persona you choose to project here, and on WP, I'd have expected your interests to be slightly less, errrr....  effeminate.

[Buzz Killington]

I wasn't talking about your job. I was talking about your posts on the pizza forum about the uniform. They make you sound more Liberace than Chuck Norris.

I'm not really criticizing you. You obviously have very strong opinions on how a pizza boy should dress, and I'm sure your ideas are simply fantastic.

It's just that, from the persona you choose to project here, and on WP, I'd have expected your interests to be slightly less, errrr....  effeminate.

What, I can't wear a designer jacket to cover my pistols?  I carry guns, not a club and spear, I never said I was a caveman.
That, and you're talking about different forums and 3 years or so of separation.  I post almost exclusively in PPR on WP, no reason to talk clothes there, while on a board for pizza shop owners it was perfectly on topic to offer a critique of the standard uniform.  I wanted an open shirt for all the reasons that I mentioned, plus one that I didn't; an open shirt covers a handgun much more easily than a polo does.

['Butterflies']

Like I say, Im not criticizing you. That thread just made me laugh, and showed a different side to you.

Im sure your ideas are sound, and I bet you look so cute in your little uniform.

[The_Chosen_One]

If a pizza guy showed up dressed like that, I'd say 'fuck off, I ordered Chinese'.

BTW, what's wrong with these?