I would not want to be a delivery person… ever. They are probably one of the least appreciated professions in this entire city, yet they likely work the hardest. As someone who is lucky enough to work at a company that offers free lunch every day to its employees, I get the option of ordering on my corporate Seamless account every day and choosing either delivery or pick-up. Sometimes, if the weather is good and the restaurant isn’t too far away, I’ll opt for pickup, getting a quick break and walk in while also saving a delivery person some work. But other times, I’ll just have the food delivered to me. And I always, always tip the delivery people.

Unfortunately in New York City, what this often means is an underpaid, perhaps even undocumented delivery person taking a bike with his helmet, juggling multiple food orders on his back or over his arms, getting from point A to B to C to D. I’ve seen these guys on my walks along fifth avenue in the Flatiron during lunch time, and honestly, I kind of feel sorry for them. So I get a little annoyed and really have to walk away when I find out that some of my colleagues do not add a tip for their delivery people (ugh), or they whine endlessly when their delivered food is even just 15 minutes late.

While I realize that eating later than you’d originally planned isn’t ideal, especially when you are in back-to-back meetings and feel really swamped at your fancy tech company, realize how lucky and privileged you are to a) get a free lunch paid for by your employer and b) get it delivered to you, every single work day. I bet that delivery guy who had to juggle a dozen orders and is on a tight time delivery schedule doesn’t have that luxury. And frankly, it’s probably not his fault that your food is late; it could be the kitchen’s fault. It could be bad traffic. So don’t take it out on him. He probably needs his tips more than you need your on-time lunch, or your free lunch, or, in this case, both.