Verbal Abuse Is Not Okay

I was verbally abused at work last night.  It happened on my very last delivery out to the country on a very dark road.  I was going slowly and kept my eyes peeled on the mailbox numbers, so I could be sure I didn't miss the house, this house that I have never been to before in almost 3 years of working for the pizza parlor.  I found the house and noticed a very large man (about 3 times my size) who was holding a flash light.  I pulled into the driveway, parked the car, and stepped out.  I then asked him if he was the one who ordered pizza.  There was a cluster of houses in that particular area, and the ticket said to serve the trailer in the back of the house, so I wanted to make sure he was in fact the customer.

He verified that he was, then proceeded to ask me if I was stupid for not seeing him shining his flashlight.  I was taken aback, but immediately thought he was joking, so I apologized and told him that I was intently looking at the mailbox numbers.  Then he began to yell at me regarding the fact that I didn't park close enough to his gate, and he would have to carry all the food an even further distance then he originally expected.  I apologized again, and then asked if he would like me to pull the car up, but he shook my suggestion off, and just mumbled about how stupid I was.

I pulled the bag with his pizza, cinna-poppers, wings, and side sauces inside, and looped my arm through it so I could carry his two 2 litter Mountain Dews in my hands.  I wanted to be a good server, so I walked all the food up to his gate, hoping to diffuse his frustration about where I parked.  He seemed surprised, and I was hoping he would just take the food, pay me and I could be on my way, but that is when things started to get scary.

Standing right next to him, I looked up and gave him a smile (because that is what I do) and tried to hand him the first 2 litter.  Rather then taking it from me, he glared down at me and gruffly asked, "Where is my ranch? and peppers? You don't look like you have my full order!" I replied, "Oh, sir they're in my bag, Ill get them for you right now-" but before I could even finish my sentence he grabbed the bag and tugged on it.  My arm was still looped through it so when he tugged on it he hurt my arm.  I said, "Sir, please, you're hurting me!" "OH SHUT UP!" he yelled at me.  And that is when I forced the sodas on him and let him have the bag.  I began to cry as fear trembled through me.  I seriously thought he was going to hurt me.  I ran to my car and locked myself inside and just bawled into my hands like a baby.

After a few seconds I realized that he hadn't paid me and he still had my pizza bag.  I know it was stupid, but my boss has been on my case over the stupidest things lately, and I didn't want to get in further trouble for letting a jerk stiff me and leaving a bag somewhere.  In retrospect, I don't think I would have gotten in trouble, but at the time, my brain wasn't working that way.  The man came to my passenger side and was yelling profanities at me.  I pulled myself together and stepped back out of the car.  I apologized and explained that he scared me, and if he would just pay the $38 for the order, I would be out of his hair.

Instead, he continued to yell at me, calling me a little bitch, telling me I am stupid, that I should go back to the store and quit because I am the worst pizza delivery driver he has ever met! I just stood there crying. At one point I remember saying "Sir, you cannot talk to me this way! I have done nothing to deserve it." but he was relentless.  So I stood there, sobbing, looking to the ground as he laid into me, taking things out of the pizza bag.  He dropped the BBQ sauce on the ground and then blamed it on me.  His Cinna-poppers leaked onto the pizza box, and he blamed it on me.  Eventually he threw two $20 bills at me and finally let me leave.  I grabbed the bag off the ground, got back into my car, and pulled away as fast as I safely could.

I called my boss right away, and told him everything that happened, or tried to, I was hysterically crying.  He calmly told me to go back to the store, write a personal statement, he would send it to HR in the morning, and then assured me that our company WILL NEVER DELIVER TO OR SERVE HIM AGAIN!  I felt comforted, but not better.  When I got back to the store, I indeed wrote out my story, and listened to my PIC talk to the man on the phone.  He called to let the manager know that I am a lying little bitch.  I'm confidant my boss believes me.  I cashed out and went home, but I couldn't hold back the rolling tears.  I had stopped sobbing, but the tears were still sliding down my cheeks, and I couldn't stop them.  I went home and told my dad what happened.  He said basically what my boss said, but I still had really bad dreams last night.  I didn't sleep well at all.  This experience was the scariest thing I have ever been through.  I have always heard about people treating others this way, but have never actually experienced it.  I hate to say that I now look at the world in a different way, but also that I am grateful for all the kind souls out there.