Mom Got An $80 Parking Ticket While DoorDashing For A $1 Tip & Kind Strangers Stepped Up In A Big Way To Help Her Out
As a single mom, $80 is a lot of money. Thankfully, strangers online had her back.
SpeedKingz / Shutterstock Gig workers, delivery drivers, and the like get so little respect that it's easy to forget the integral part they play in keeping our lives running smoothly.
Thankfully, there are people out there who get it, and they showed up in a big way when a young single mom recently needed help after a mishap while delivering for DoorDash.
The mom got an $80 parking ticket while DoorDashing for a $1 tip.
A little-known fact about gig work — all it takes is for a few simple things to go wrong and a shift ends up costing more than it pays. (As a former Uber driver, I speak from experience.)
For drivers, parking tickets are chief among these mishaps. Online forums like Reddit are full of stories from drivers about being ticketed and towed, especially for those working in inner cities where parking is often non-existent.
And since bailing on a delivery or turning down a ride can get you in hot water with whatever company you're working for, the risk of a ticket often seems like the safer gamble.
That's likely the math Maliah, a single mom known as @maliahhdajawn on TikTok, did during her recent DoorDash shift, and it ended up going really poorly.
Maliah had to deliver to a courthouse in a downtown area where there was nowhere to park.
Maliah's dilemma will be familiar to anyone who's ever done gig work. "So I was just doing DoorDash and I had to bring somebody food who worked in the courthouse and they worked on the fifth floor," she tearfully recounted in her video.
"I didn't want to pay to park because I can't afford to pay to park," she said. Paying to park defeats the purpose of even delivering the food in the first place, after all.
She found a nearby parking lot that appeared to be free, but she didn't realize it was permit-only. "As I'm coming down from giving her her DoorDash, I see somebody at my car."
She sprinted across the street and pleaded with the person writing her a ticket, but they were unmoved. "I got an $80 [expletive] ticket trying to do DoorDash," she said. "Do you know how long it's gonna take to make… 80 extra dollars through DoorDash?"
After pointing out that this all could have been avoided by the customer simply meeting her outside since the customer knew they were in an area with no parking. Maliah then shared the real kick in the gut: "And then she tipped me a dollar."
Maliah's video quickly went viral, and people online organized to get her the $80 and then some.
Maliah's story definitely resonated with people on social media, and several urged her to send the parking ticket to DoorDash with an explanation and ask for a reimbursement.
But gig economy companies' entire business models rest on taking advantage of workers while giving them no protections or concessions whatsoever — and often not even paying them fairly, to begin with.
As for DoorDash, their website clearly states, in the most finger-waggy tone possible, "You, as the Contractor, will determine how to deliver using the DoorDash platform which includes where to park to pick up or deliver…any parking tickets or traffic tickets received are at your expense and DoorDash will not reimburse for these items."
But many others understood how the system works, and quickly stepped in to help out and take care of the ticket for her. In an update video, Maliah shared the impact it had made on her and her young child.
"I'm a single mother to a special needs child," she said, tearing up with gratitude. "So, although this $80 parking ticket wasn't a lot to some of you guys, it was a lot to me. Thank you, it means a lot. Truly."
The lesson here is two-fold: If you're lucky enough to be able to afford services like DoorDash, be conscious of the pitfalls these hard-working people endure to bring you a sandwich and help them out. And for God's sake, tip them properly!
It's a terrible system, but it's the one we got. If you don't like it, go get your own food.
But more importantly, as Maliah's situation shows, it is harder out there economically than it has ever been in most of our lifetimes. And for the majority of us, the people we work for — both the customers and the companies we make insanely wealthy off our labor while we struggle to afford basic needs — couldn't possibly care less.
So we have to show up for each other. Help each other whenever we can. And hopefully, one day when we're the ones who need the help, they can be there for us. That's all life is anyway. Don't ever let the fatcats convince you otherwise.
John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice and human interest topics.