NOTE: If you do not complete the task as a messenger... you do not get paid for the day... here a a few quick stories...
a few photos from my youth
just to give people an impression that I have not always been old
I have not always looked like Father Time
I too was young once
here are two quick thoughts about being a messenger...
first... back in the day... food delivery did not count as being a messenger...
no one would lump those things together
there was no Uber Eats or any of that stuff
there was messenger work and there was food delivery
but there was no link between the two
just because someone was on the bike... did not bring the cultures together
sure... things are different now... just saying how it was...
in the 80's there were more messenger companies than there are now messengers
the city was powered by by the bicycle messenger
there were no computers with Internet connections to send data
which means no email... no PDFs... no digital signatures...
no sending attachments... NOTHING DIGITAL!!!
shit... the FAX machine was a time warp for communication
so...
originals were sent...
originals that needed signatures
originals that need to be filed and time stamped
everything was done in person
there was no online to do things online
so... the packages that were carried had a certain level of weight to them
here are two quick anecdotes that come to mind...
when I was a messenger I was sent to pick up the Kenneth Starr Report
this was a massive release pertaining to President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky
being the first person there for pick up
before they passed off my copy
they asked if I would give the first copy to the public from congress
I picked up the document... hard to recall... maybe the Senate Document Office
and then they had me walk this document on the causeway alongside the underground US Capitol Subway
where I passed off this document to a committee that was headed by members of the public
had I been sent to get this document... and come up empty handed
I would not be scheduled for work the next day
I would no longer have a job
sure... if you fuck up your Dominos Pizza Delivery... they just send over another pie... I get it... you get to keep your pizza delivery job... but not in my world...
so...
working for CBS News as a motorcycle messenger I was sent to the Naval Observatory to pick up an audio tape from Dan Rather
jumped on my Suzuki GS550 and zipped from 2020 M Street up to Massachusetts Avenue to make my pick up
rode right up onto the sidewalk to where I saw Dan Rather walking the perimeter of the grounds on the inside of the fence with Barbara Bush... her husband was then the Vice President to Ronald Reagan
I walked up to Dan Rather and the Vice President's wife and we exchanged greetings
Dan reached into the interior of his suit pocket and pulled out an audio cassette with the interview he had just recorded with Barbara Bush
I collected the audio cassette and took it back to CBS News at 2020 M Street and passed the tape off to my superior...
had I lost that tape... I would not have gotten credit for the day... telling my boss that I was there and showing him a selfie would not have made things okay
I would have been fired... I would not have been paid for the day...
so... the notion of having a complete and correct manifest
that is each and everyday for each and every messenger
well... maybe at least the messengers who were making money
