Delivery Drivers
Practice
Make a sign. Place a sign of gratitude by your front door for delivery drivers.
Write a personal note. Thank them specifically for an important delivery.
Provide snacks or water. Offer prepackaged food and drinks as an act of hospitality.
Say “Thank You” when you see them. Acknowledge their humanity as people created in the image of God with dignity and value.
Delivery drivers serve in ways that are often overlooked and unseen. They move throughout our neighborhoods - from newly built estates to aging apartments, crowded city streets to sparse rural landscapes. Their work interacts daily with the spectrum of our society. The practice of gratitude for delivery drivers is an exercise in noticing the dignity of every person who steps on our doorstep. No longer is it only the mail delivery person who walks up to our homes. Delivery drivers for e-commerce, grocery, and restaurants are now as present in our neighborhoods as the postal service.
Without gratitude for the people who do unseen work, we may begin to no longer see their humanity, instead only valuing the magical convenience they provide. Author Andy Crouch points out in his book, “The Life We Want”, a cause of concern for our cultural moment is not that our machines become more like humans, it is that we would treat humans more like machines.
A helpful question to cultivate gratitude for often-overlooked occupations like delivery drivers is, “How would my life be different in their work did not exist?” For me, the opportunity to send books to friends across town and across the country would not be a possibility without delivery drivers. An act that brings me great joy is facilitated by their service and work. For those unable to leave their homes because of age or physical ability, delivery drivers are integral to life, providing essential food, supplies, and medicine.
Practicing gratitude for delivery drivers can have a variety of expressions. A handwritten “Thank You” note on a day of an expected delivery or verbal “Thank you for bringing this to my home!” acknowledges the service they provide. A friend’s home in Sloan’s Lake had a box of pre-packaged snacks and drinks on their front porch with a sign, “Happy Holidays! Thank you for all your hard work and please take a snack and a drink. We appreciate you!” It may be having bottled water by your mailbox in the summer, or a chalk art “Thank You” by children drawn on the driveway. Gratitude for delivery drivers cultivates hospitality for all those who serve us in unseen ways.
