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| No, this does not count as having a porch light. http://thefieldlab.blogspot.com/2010/11/new-led-porch-light.html |
No, not really. Just a really, really dark night. A while back I took a delivery to a house on a very dark street. I don't remember why it was so dark. I don't think there were any streetlights. The night itself was really dark. I slowed down looking for the correct house to deliver to. I knew it was going to be on the left side because of the house number I was going to. Let's pretend it was 1943 for storytelling purposes. To get an idea of where I was at in numbers I tried to find as many as I could. There were a lot of dark houses, so I couldn't see the numbers very well. 2051... 2013... 1985... 1903. Crap. I missed it. So I turned around to go back, driving a bit slower and really searching out numbers. I searched the address on the map on my phone and stopped when it told me I was in the right place. This particular address didn't have a "street view" option, so I couldn't go into it and see what the house looked like. I pulled into a short gravel driveway that seemed to be in the correct location. I looked at the numbers across the street to make sure of my placement. However, the house in front of me looked vacant. The driveway I was in was next to a large fenced yard. The house was set back; far from the street. I had to strain my eyes to look at it. Remember, the street was dark in the first place. The house itself was old and shabby looking. No lights were on anywhere. The door was set in an alcove that I would have to walk into first, after going through the gate in the fenced yard. No matter how hard I looked I couldn't see any numbers. I sat there for a little less than a minute thinking about how to proceed. Go up to the scary dark house even if I don't know if it's the right one? No way, my friend. I was about to pick up my phone to give the customer a call when someone emerged from the darkness that was the front door. He turned on a light and waved me up. I got out of my car with the food and asked him if this was the right place. He seemed confused by my question. Like he didn't realize how incredibly dark and creepy his house looked. It was indeed his order so I finally walked up to the door to complete the transaction. As I went up, I looked around for numbers to see if I was just being blind. Nope. No numbers.
My friends. This is a true story and not a rare occurrence. Any delivery driver will tell you - if it's the only dark house on the street, it's probably the one you're going to. Did you know you could get your pizza delivered to you so much faster if you simply took a couple of steps to make your house easier to find? Numbers on the house that are easily visible would be a great start! I deliver to so many houses that don't have numbers on them. How do these people expect me to find them? They want me to guess which door to knock on at one o'clock in the morning? I've knocked on the wrong door at that time before. It's not a happy moment. People get pretty angry.
Go outside and take a look at your numbers.
Are they behind trees? I delivered to a place just the other night whose numbers were behind very thick bushes. I didn't see them until I actually got to the door.
Are they the same color as your house or bronze? Just so you know, numbers that match the color of the house are not visible at night time. There's a house I deliver to that has this issue. The first time I went there the lady came out and angrily waved me down like I was some sort of idiot for not seeing her camouflaged numbers. Last time I went to that house, her kids made me stand outside for 15 minutes while they did who knows what on the inside. I almost left.
Do you have numbers on your mailbox or curbside? I love these things! It makes finding a house so much easier. I can't see them on the house so my eyes immediately go to the curb or the mailbox out on the street.
Do you even have numbers? I don't care if you just painted or whatever. Do you realize the purpose of house numbers?
Secondly - where the heck is your porch light? I can't see house numbers without a porch light. I can't make out if you're home or not. I can't see when we're doing the money transaction. And, honestly, it's darned scary walking up to a completely dark house, even if I know it's the right one. The ones I love are the customers who turn on the porch light when they come to the door. Thanks, friend. That would have helped me five minutes ago when I was trying to find your house. I went to a house once who apparently forgot to pay the electric bill. I asked if they had a porch light or any light on the inside or anything. We had to do the credit card transaction via the glow of his cell phone. Ridiculous.
I try to thank people who do have their lights on. I really appreciate it. Not only does it make it easier on me, it makes it so the customer gets his or her food faster! If I can see the numbers on the house and the light is on, then I don't spend all that time driving up and down the street or sitting in a driveway deciding on how scary the house is.
Something that warms my heart is when the customer turns off the porch light after I leave. When I see that, I know that he turned that light on just for me. He was thinking things through. He was thinking from my perspective instead of just his own. Totally awesome.
Moral of the story, my friends? You want to get your food faster and avoid a disgruntled driver? Get a porch light and turn it on! Click here for some more advice on how to make your house more visible.
Until next time!
