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Letters to the EditorsPizza shops aren't obliged to put drivers in harm's way© St. Petersburg Times published September 4, 2002 EDITOR'S NOTE: The following reader letters were submitted in response to stories and an editorial about a predominantly African-American area of Tarpon Springs that has been denied nighttime pizza delivery by Pizza Hut and Domino's for safety reasons. Representatives of the community have appealed to the city of Tarpon Springs to help get service reinstated or take action against the companies for discrimination. Since those articles were printed, Domino's has resumed delivery to the area. The pizza companies are right. Why should they risk someone's life to deliver pizzas to a neighborhood they know is dangerous? If they sent a driver in there and he or she was hurt or killed, the press would be blasting them with everything they had for not being more careful. The real answer is improving human behavior and making the "bad guys" understand that we will not tolerate criminal behavior. Being too tolerant and making excuses for bad behavior is destroying our civilized society. Help change this.
Re: Pizza delivery as a moral obligation, editorial, Aug. 25. I find it very humorous and sad that the author of the editorial finds moral obligation in pizza delivery. This, while we as Americans find no moral obligation to raise our own children (let day care do it) or to teach our children about the concepts of the value of life, responsibility, character, dignity, etiquette, modesty, self-control, citizenship, etc. Why is it that we Americans are so pathetically arrogant? Why is it that we insist that our simplest desire should be someone else's command? Why is it that we now feel that we are owed everything and need to earn nothing? Why is it that such an extremely petty issue is being discussed here, when all the important issues listed are neglected? I am confident that no matter how many times I read our Constitution, I will not find in it the guarantee of pizza delivery. But I will find this in Amendment XIII of that document: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude . . . shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." And my wholehearted belief is that forcing some business owner to risk, beyond his perceived sense of danger, the health/life of his employees constitutes "involuntary servitude." If you want pizza and a given establishment chooses not to deliver it, then you need to exercise your right to buy pizza somewhere else -- or drive your (lazy) self to go get it, or make homemade pizza, etc. I see two remedies to this situation, if such dire circumstances demand the home delivery of pizza: 1. Residents of Union Academy, or any other similarly challenged area, should exercise their community responsibility and ensure that their neighborhood meets or exceeds the safety requirements of any pizza delivery service. 2. Pizza Hut, Domino's et al. should exercise their capitalistic rights by charging fees to these areas to compensate sufficient security personnel to ensure the safety of the pizza deliverer. In other words, it's a choice for the community: Pay the price of cleaning up your neighborhood, or pay the penalty of higher prices for a convenience. In no way do I see that anyone has the right to tell a business owner how to run his business: No shirt, no shoes, no safety -- no service!
Pizza delivery is not a civil right! I just read the editorial in the Times, Pizza delivery as a moral obligation, Aug. 25. Your lack of common sense is astounding. Has even one person on your editorial staff ever delivered pizza? Alone? Unarmed? In a really bad neighborhood at midnight? I dare you to try it. Do it for a week; tell us how you like it. I've done it; and I've been robbed, swarmed by a gang, assaulted and nearly killed. It's legal to carry a pistol in Florida, but any delivery person who does will be immediately terminated by Pizza Hut, Domino's, Papa John's or most other places. This is not an issue of race. All the screaming of the self-appointed race baiters does not change that. If most locals know Mango Circle is a dangerous place, the Times editors certainly don't live there, and the lawyers who may sue Pizza Hut certainly won't visit their clients there after dark, why should a pizza delivery guy risk his life to deliver a pizza there? My life is worth more than your pizza.
I can agree with the people living in this neighborhood that they deserve the same services that other neighborhoods receive. But after saying that, I want Tarpon Springs City Commissioner David Archie, Mayor Frank DiDonato and the Times writer to answer two questions: Would you be willing to allow your son, daughter or grandchild to deliver those pizzas with no protection? Would you be willing to deliver those pizzas in that neighborhood without protection? The protection I talk about is the protective measures that the neighborhood is willing to take to ensure that people coming into their community will be free of real or perceived harm. What has the community committed to that will guarantee the safety of these pizza deliverers? If no real commitment is given, then I support the pizza companies' management.
A pizza company should not have to deliver pizza to an unsafe neighborhood. We live in Tarpon Springs. We have pizza at least twice a week, and we go after it ourselves. These people could do the same. There is no law that Pizza Hut or any other establishment has to deliver. They do this as a service, and they should be able to count on the driver's total safety.
How many pizza drivers have been robbed, beaten and or intimidated in, let's say, St. Pete Beach or Madeira Beach? Maybe the problem isn't the amount of crime in the area, but the crime against pizza drivers (also cab drivers in south St. Petersburg). Most jobs pay more for working in high-risk areas. Maybe Pizza Hut and Domino's ought to consider that. I don't think I should fear for my life for less than a $2 tip no matter how "nice" most of the people in the community might be. Those few bad apples come from your families in that community. Delivery is a courtesy, not a right. Any establishment can reserve the right to refuse service to whomever they choose.
Re: Pizza delivery as a moral obligation, editorial, Aug. 25. Once again I see the bleeding-heart liberals have checked their brains at the door. The issue is not about racism; it's about safety. I see no reference to either Pizza Hut or Domino's withholding delivery service to the area in question because of race or creed. They are withholding service because they don't want their personnel injured and robbed. If they want pizza delivery, the residents need to take responsibility for their neighborhood and do something about the problem other than hide in their homes and cry the blues because they can't get a pizza.
I consider myself very sensitive to racial discrimination. But when I thought of my son or daughter delivering pizzas and collecting money in some areas, I would have to make my parental voice heard strongly in the negative.
Re: Pizza delivery as a moral obligation, editorial, Aug. 25. The goal is prompt, safe pizza delivery in all the neighborhoods of Tarpon Springs. Reaching that goal might involve research to find out how other communities have solved their pizza delivery problems. How about having a workshop with an experienced leader so that all the groups involved could talk with each other? The residents of neighborhoods not presently served, the people who make deliveries, the managers of the pizza companies and the city government could send representatives. The workshop would try to come up with ways to solve the problem. If the group agrees, could the workshop be shown later on TV?
For you to call a legitimate response to a robbery and beating a "ridiculous overreaction" is absurd. Perhaps if the writer were the one receiving the beating, he would have a different perspective. Not having a pizza delivered is an inconvenience; being robbed and beaten while trying to make a living goes way beyond that. Shame on you for minimizing an act of violence.
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