DoorDash Driver Is 'Thinking About Quitting' After Customer Climbs Through Window To Get Her Food So She Won't Have To Share
The bizarre incident shines a light on a more serious issue.
@Jonathaneljay87 / TikTok We’ve all had moments on the job where we’ve contemplated quitting, whether it be due to poor management, low pay, or even bizarre things we’ve seen while working that make us question why we’re even there in the first place.
But sometimes, it's customer behavior that's the last straw. And one man faced this exact dilemma after witnessing something that looked like it came straight out of “The Exorcist” movie while making food deliveries.
A DoorDash driver filmed a customer climbing out of her window to retrieve her order.
In a TikTok video that has been viewed over 3 million times, the driver (@jonathaneljay87 on the app) recorded an unusual experience with a customer during his first day on the job.
As he sat in his car outside of the customer’s home waiting on the woman to pick up her food delivery from him, he noticed a figure emerging from one of the windows on the side of the house.
The woman forced her body through the window headfirst and exited through the open window in a bizarre manner, breaking her fall with her arms outstretched, before running toward the man’s car to obtain her delivery.
The man shared that he was ‘thinking about quitting’ after witnessing the customer’s actions.
“My first day doing DoorDash, thinking about quitting,” he wrote in the text overlay of the video, adding a laughing emoji to the end of it.
TikTok users speculated in the comments why the woman did not simply exit through the front door, rather than forcing her body to fit through a window.
“She didn’t want to share with whoever was by the front door,” one user suggested. “POV: you’re renting a room and you don’t want the owner to see you buying food when you’re behind on rent,” another user commented.
Other users were alarmed by the customer’s dramatic window exit. “If it was night time I would've left ASAP. That was a scary movie moment, no thanks,” one user wrote.
Others shared their own similar experiences ordering DoorDash, and explained their reasons why they asked their drivers to deliver their orders to the window. “One time I ordered Uber eats and I didn't want to get out of my room so I told the guy to give me my food through my bedroom window,” a second user revealed.
Photo: cottonbro studio / Pexels
Along with low pay and working long hours, food delivery drivers also face safety concerns.
A majority of food delivery drivers rely on tips to make ends meet, spending 40 hours or more working when they are full-time employees. But aside from their reliance on tips, delivery drivers are also faced with the reality of safety.
And it's not just concerns about potential road accidents or exhaustion from keeping up with demand — it's customers that can also pose a safety risk. Multiple studies and research have found just how dangerous it is to be a delivery driver.
Not only are nearly 20% of workplace deaths actually delivery drivers, but the number of work-related fatalities among delivery drivers is almost double that of police officers (1.8 times more, in fact).
In Washington, DC, one 2023 report found that 51% of drivers surveyed felt unsafe or feared for their lives while on the job. They cited physical assault, verbal harassment and carjackings, as well as vehicle accidents as their main safety concerns.
Additionally, many drivers feared reporting the incidents to the companies they worked for, thinking their superiors wouldn't take them seriously or would penalize them. Among those involved in car accidents, 15% of respondents didn't have health insurance.
A 2021 Pew Research poll found that 35% of gig workers felt unsafe, with 19% experiencing unwanted sexual harassment. Furthermore, activist group Gig Workers Rising reported that between 2017 and 2022, 80 gig workers were victims of homicide, with at least 20 being delivery drivers.
So, while it may be convenient for customers to climb through windows to get their food quicker, they should be aware of the risks delivery drivers take each day to make an honest paycheck.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.