I signed up to deliver grocery bags to Food Bank clients in San Francisco. My friend and I both signed up. I was the driver and she was the rider which actually means way more than it sounds. I’d drive to the location, and she’d pick the really heavy bag, and walks to the client’s unit. Now, not all units are easy to find. Well, heck, not all addresses are easy to find. “You have reached your destination of your left”, the map lady announces, but there is only a park on our left? Three more going arounds later, Oh wait, there’s an alley on the back. Now, the “rider” is going on discovery with the heavy bag! She comes back. Don’t know where the gate is. Some guys in the street points to another gate and she heads back. It has been a while. At this time, I decide to move the car closer to the gate so she doesn’t have to walk back again with the heavy bag, “For sure I need to carry the bag in my cart when it is my turn, too heavy” I am thinking which parking in front of the underground parking gate, but that guy is watching.
I get out of the car and decide to call the client. The good news is that we have an app that shows us the client’s name, address, and if there is any phone number and what language they speak. The bad news is that if you are in an area with no service, you are stuck. However, I have learned (after many times of facing wifi road blocks) that I shall take screen shots! She comes back again empty handed. Well actually carrying the heavy bag! I am hoping she is counting this as a workout – I would! She told me that she went on the third floor and there is no #305!
I totally understood. I remembered being invited to a party in Sunnyvale 35 years ago, and I walked and walked at night with my VERY HIGH heels, wearing very tight girdle looking for #1032 .. after 10 minutes walk, I found #1031! Come to find out painfully and after 20 minutes that #1032 was on the other side of the man made lake! Give me a break.
At this time, I am feeling useless so I asked her to put the heavy bag down and wait there and I will go figure it out. Of course she wouldn’t – she’s my friend, people. She was talking to some guy looking through his window and doesn’t speak English asking him to show her where #305 is and he agreed to come downstairs and meet her by the elevator. I set out to find a delivery man in the building asking him to show us #305. At this time, all four of us were by the elevator. So, I decided to run out and stay near my car (parked with hazard blinkers on) not to get tickets.
I felt so accomplished and was waiting for my friend to come back to click on “Success” on the app. She came back holding the bag! “No one opens the door, “ she said. Really??
This is our first of 15 deliveries and we already spent 30 minutes here. Wait, I can call her. She picked up and spoke Russian nonstop. I kept on saying “DOOR” – please “OPEN”, and FOOD BANK. Now, we are sure, it will be a success! The good news is that we know she is home and we were told clients are expecting us. Nope! She comes back with the bag. Again! “I can hear the TV, but no one opens the door,” she said.
We were instructed to move on if client not there. But the client is there … not opening? I wonder if that was in the instructions? But we really wanted to give her the bag. That why we took this on.
Then the same guy on the street saw our struggles and pointed to a window and said “look, that is her sitting by the window, I know her. She is my neighbor – #305, right?” That’s great news. Now we can see if/when she moves. I had a lightbulb moment! I am going to ask my Russian friend, Oksana to help. I asked her to call this number and tell her to please open the door. “The number is wrong, she said. The call doesn’t go through, I tried many times,” she said. What now? We checked the number. Finally I asked her to record her voice saying “please open the door, Food Bank volunteers are behind your door with food for you.” And send it to me. Then we’d call her and play the recording. And, she did. My friend went back again, carrying that heavy bag (I wonder how many calories lost so far, walking back and forth 5 times, carrying at least 50 lbs?)
I was eager to download the recording and call her, but no service. I had no idea what else to do. Perhaps we should move on? She came back this time, two thumbs up and a huge smile! She said thank God your friend could talk to her. I told her we just got lucky, she couldn’t talk to her and I couldn’t download the voice recording. She told me that we are both tenacious!! I told her that I was told in the past that I was persistent. “We are tenacious” she repeated. I looked it up:
Def – te·na·cious
adjective
not readily relinquishing a position, principle, or course of action; determined.
Tenacious, it is, my friend,
We were both so happy and energized. We were talking about how everyone around us that day was in it to win it. From the food bank volunteers, to the developers of the app, to the guy in the window who didn’t speak English but came to help, the delivery man wearing two layers of masks, the guy in the street showing us the apartments and watching my car, Oksana who called the client repeatedly and finally recorded her voice for us, she who finally opened the door, and my good friend who never ever gave up!
I marked the app, SUCCESS!