This past year, home delivery drivers have turned into essential key workers, keeping countries running in the face of the global pandemic. However, many customers still don't realize how draining, depressing, and under-paying this job sometimes is, especially during the current COVID-19 crisis.
Recently, a man named Riley Elliot made a TikTok video in which he expressed the struggles of working as a delivery driver and asked customers to always leave tips for delivery people.
More info: TikTok
During the global COVID-19 crisis, delivery drivers have become essential key workers, doing a huge part in keeping countries running
After a frustrating day at work, Elliot went on TikTok to express his emotions and shed some light on the struggles delivery drivers go through every day. "Y'all, I wish people who order Uber Eats or DoorDash understood what it's like to be a driver," Elliot says in the video. "I just spent 45 minutes on a delivery, and had to pay $3 for parking to bring this person their food because there was no free parking. And they refuse to come out and meet me."
However, a lot of people still fail to realize how big of a toll this job can take on people, especially during the pandemic
Image credits: livefreestudios
Recently, TikTok user Riley Elliot posted a video in which he expressed his struggles of working as a delivery driver
Image credits: livefreestudios
"They tipped me $1.50 and Uber paid me $2.50," says the guy while you can see tears forming in his eyes. "I gotta prove 3 times the rent for income in 2 weeks, and I can't. And it doesn't matter that I'm working multiple jobs, it doesn't matter that I rarely sleep and can barely afford to feed myself."
Image credits: livefreestudios
"I'm about to be homeless for the third time since May, and it's all because people don't tip their delivery drivers. Like, how hard is it to throw us 5 bucks?" Elliot adds.
Without Elliot expecting, his video quickly gained a lot of attention, and it currently has over 400k likes on TikTok.
In the video, Elliot encourages people to always tip their delivery drivers who are risking their lives during the pandemic
Image credits: livefreestudios
Along with the comments and likes, the guy also started receiving quite a few donations to his Venmo account that was listed in his TikTok profile bio.
"I have been just totally blown away," Elliot told when talking to TODAY. "None of it was expected. I didn't post the video expecting people to reach out or expecting money or handouts or anything." The amount of money Elliot's received is around $55,000.
After making the video, Elliot started receiving donations from various people who ended up raising him around $55,000
Image credits: livefreestudios
The amount of money the video helped him raise allowed Elliot to start looking for permanent housing instead of searching for an apartment to rent. In addition, the guy decided to use the rest of the money to help other people in need.
"Once we reached the point where we were like, 'OK, now we'll definitely be able to get into a place, we don't need all of this,' I started literally just giving money away," Elliot told TODAY. "We sent money to folks in Texas whose pipes had burst, we sent money to folks who needed medication, sent money to friends who were struggling. We spent about $15,000 that first day, just helping people out with their situations."
Image credits: livefreestudios
"Right away, my initial response was, 'Oh my god, we can help other people,'" Elliot said when talking to TODAY. "It's honestly been kind of a dream come true. … Financially, everybody's struggling right now."
After the video blew up, Elliot made another one in which he took back a few things he said in the previous one by pointing out that the companies who don't pay enough are the true problem here
After Elliot's video blew up and he received quite a few comments pointing that it's not people who don't tip, but companies that are responsible for the struggles of delivery drivers, the guy made another video to clear things up a bit. "I just wanna take back one thing I said in my video that blew up," Elliot says in the second video. "It's not entirely the fault of people who don't tip. It is absolutely the fault of these companies like DoorDash and Uber Eats who don't pay their drivers very much."
Here's how people reacted to the viral video
