Five days ago, a video went viral stating a Zomato delivery guy punched a beauty and fashion influencer. The reason being food delivered was late than expected and the customer demanded it for free. I saw the bleeding nose footage and empathized with the lady but one thing could not get off my head. What kind of pressure did the delivery guy have that he ended up hitting the lady? Can a customer’s demand for free food lead the delivery guy to take such a step? Was it the tension of pay cut? Would Zomato recover the cost of the meal from the delivery guy’s salary? Why? Just Why?

Two days later another story popped up, (quite believable comparatively). The lady wanted the meal free from Zomato for the delay in sending. She called the delivery guy names, threw her slippers on him, and started hitting him, ending with a self-punch on her nose. The story was apparently tweaked by the lady. Thanks to social media and all the resources available to the “influencer”. Indeed, a good job was done in influencing.  

It’s still under investigation, and whoever is culpable will be castigated for setting a bad example. But this whole fiasco has persuaded me to ponder. Are we humans so out of leniency that we can’t handle a situation like ‘this’ calmly? How much did the meal cost? Was it so pricey that it was either – get it for free or get punched (by him or self)?

Coming to my personal experience with Zomato Mumbai. They do have free order policies for late deliveries, I have always got a refund for missing orders, canceled orders, etc. All it needed was a tweet or an update to customer care about my delivery experience. The tracker on the app would notify the time required for deliveries and have even received calls from the delivery guys/customer care if it is going to be delayed. Most of the time it was a hold-up from the restaurant or due to traffic (if you know Mumbai).

We have even got our orders delivered as late as 1:30 AM coz we craved for a cold coffee and waffle at 12:30 AM and spontaneously placed orders while binge-watching Netflix.

Doesn’t it make you wonder if the delivery guys really enjoy this job of picking food in the middle of the night when it’s time to get one’s head down? Is it ever one’s dream job to be a delivery guy? I don’t think so. Such a job is mostly adopted for sustainability.

We the ones who cozily sit on our couch and order food through our expensive phones are ‘well-off’ to spend bucks on posh restaurants food deliveries while the sect of delivery guys struggle to keep the family income flowing in. They earn through this occupation and run a household. Aren’t we civilized and educated enough to understand the situation and accept a delay of few mins? Does it really make sense to stretch the matter to an extent where one reaches the hospital while the other loses a living?

Are we beings so stressed that we cant contemplate the gravity of our actions? What is the status of our mental health? Does a food order not reaching you on time justify inflicting abuse, injury, or self-harm?

THINK!

Should one box of meal cost someone his livelihood?

Please THINK!