Working in the gig economy and food service is not for the faint of heart – just ask anyone who has.
And the fact that workers rely on tips to make ends meet makes those jobs even more difficult, especially with rising inflation rates and cuts to workers’ wages by gig companies.
Meanwhile, social media is abuzz with tales of waitresses, bartenders and delivery drivers for apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub.
So it’s no surprise that when a DoorDash driver won $100 on Christmas Eve, they were absolutely shocked — so much so that they sent a letter to their customer.
Customer Vivica posted a heartwarming letter she received from a DoorDash driver to the “r/MadeMeSmile” subReddit, and it was touched by many Redditors.
DoorDasher left a note expressing their gratitude for the generous tip.
The DoorDash driver said they were so “overwhelmed” by Vivica’s generous tip that they cried all the way home.
The driver wrote that they just started driving for DoorDash after losing their jobs.
And proving just how tough things can be after losing his job, the driver decided to work on Christmas Eve to “pay for a tank of petrol”.
Photo Credit: Reddit
Vivica’s was the last order of the night, and her generosity — a $100 tip for a $60 order — left Dasher “flabbergasted” and extremely grateful.
A much-cited 2018 Federal Reserve study found that nearly 40% of Americans were too strapped to afford a $400 surprise expense, and that was before the economic shocks of the pandemic.
For so many people, $100 can really make all the difference, and that’s why DoorDash driver Vivica was overwhelmed by her kindness.
They wrote: “I have to admit I cried all the way home and held my three children very close that night.”
The driver used it as a lesson to the child about the importance of kindness and generosity.
They wrote that they talked to their children about Vivica and her generosity and explained the importance of gratitude and appreciation for the kindness of others.
Dasher later said they “told them how important it is to be kind to others and be generous when you can; it can make someone’s day.”
“We are very grateful to you and your kindness,” they continued. “We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”
Many commenters were deeply moved by the letter and it inspired them to be more generous in their own lives.
“This is something that feeds my soul,” wrote one user. “We can all be each other’s angels if we want to – it doesn’t take much.”
One user, who grew up without much money, sympathized with DoorDasher, writing that the letter “made my eyes better because I grew up watching my parents struggle to make ends meet.”
Another said Vivica’s gesture inspired them to do the same – “Next time I have some extra cash to spare, I’m totally pulling this move.”
Others responded with calls for restaurant and gig economy workers to be paid more fairly and treated with more respect.
One Redditor called out the way “people in the service industry don’t work anymore” and often “people forget to be nice to the people handling their food.”
“Society shouldn’t run on hope and charity,” wrote another, while another lamented that “dashers should depend on advice and kindness instead of decent pay.”
Perhaps the most instructive comment came from a DoorDash driver who looked at the reality of the gig economy for many workers.
After thanking Vivica, they wrote, “Most of the time we’ve been rocking so you’re what we call a unicorn. Someone very special.”
Tipping is far from a perfect system, but it is the system we have.
We hope that posts like Vivica’s will inspire others to make generosity the norm, not the surprise.
John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer covering pop culture, social justice and human interest topics.