September 19, 2019 - 6 - "Delivery Devotee"

     I suppose the addiction started when I lived in Manhattan.  Even way back in the Pre-Amazon-ian Era if you were in the city you could get almost anything delivered to your door at any hour of the day or night.

     This was a godsend for me for so many reasons:
          1) I was flying international trips then and my exhaustion level and inability to distinguish night from day made establishments with traditional hours challenging for me to patronize.
          2) As an introvert who spent a lot of time with masses of people the interactions involved in going out my door, down my apartment stairs, and down the street to the corner store seemed overwhelming.
          3)  Just putting on pants was an insurmountable obstacle at times.
          4)  I have a deep and abiding hatred of all errand-running.
          5)  My overall laziness about, and apathy towards, leaving the strong force field that surrounds my home has always been hard to overcome.  Some people get cabin fever quickly and just can't wait to get up and out into the big bright world.  I'm more the hunker-down-until-stores-of-food hit-critical-lows-before-I'm-involuntarily-forced-out-of-my-lair kind of person.


   Luckily, this was no problem.  All I had to do was pick up the phone and some lovely person would bring me a hot meal, pick up my dirty laundry, bring back my clean (and beautifully-folded) laundry, bring by some groceries, or even drop off a prescription when I wasn't feeling well.

     The options were nearly endless and I took full advantage.

     Sadly, when I moved back to Texas, this was not a possibility.  I missed it terribly.  In the late 90's you could get pizza or Chinese delivered...and that was about it.  Even though I grew up  in a place where even pizza delivery wasn't a concept, I felt extremely hard-done-by.  It's amazing how quickly we get used to indulgences.  What was a luxury yesterday becomes an absolute necessity today.

     Anyway, I trudged through the dark years of actually having to run errands myself until recently when (cue the angel-choirs-singing soundtrack):  Delivery Options Came to Fort Worth!

     Now, between Amazon Prime, Amazon Fresh, Instacart, Favor, Door Dash, Uber Eats, etc. etc. etc., I can, once again, get most anything delivered most any time of the day or night.

     And I totally do.

     Still, no matter how many times Amazon brings me scotch tape or a tee shirt, Door Dash hands over a hot meal, Instacart drops by milk and eggs and celery, or Favor delivers the Halloween candy that I forgot to plan for, I still get as excited as I did the first time someone brought me dinner in New York.

     Michael teases me when he brings in loot left on the porch:  "You got presents."  But, seriously, that's exactly how it feels.  I still get completely stoked.  Every package feels like the biggest gift under the tree on Christmas morning.  Every box and bag represents an errand I did not have to run, traffic I did not have to fight, a store I did not have to visit...

     And for this I am truly, truly, grateful.