50 Second Hero
My wife and I have two young boys. Our older son loves football. He knows more about the game than I ever did. The other day, he was quizzing me about Ed “Too Tall” Jones. As soon as he’s off the school bus, he often sprints to grab his football and recreate plays he’s seen on TV or on “Madden NFL 20.”
I travel for work. Not as much as I used to, but often enough. The other week, I was in Texas when I received a push notification from the Nest Cam we have keeping an eye on our yard. The notification arrived just after the school bus would have dropped the kids off, so I tuned in to say hi. (You can actually speak through the Nest Cam IQ, which sort of freaks everyone out.)
It took me a second or two to realize what was going on. My son was throwing the football with the UPS guy (sound on).
My wife had been on her way outside to throw the ball with our son, but UPS got there first. She watched the whole thing unfold from the kitchen window.
What struck both of us was the humanity of what was happening. The whole thing took 50 seconds. The driver placed our boxes by the door, started walking back to his package car, and impulsively darted to the left, exclaiming “Let’s go!” My son perked up and lofted him a pass. The driver can be heard on the video repeating “One more!” as his DIAD (Delivery Information Acquisition Device) flails wildly on his belt. It was clear they were both having fun.
I was so impressed by this spontaneous act of kindness that I had to share it. I shared it with my coworkers. I shared it with my family, friends, and neighbors. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized, this driver is an ambassador for his company. The UPS mission statement states, “Lead by example as a responsible, caring, and sustainable company making a difference in the communities we serve.” Check. At the same time, UPS is an efficiency-obsessed company. For this driver to take 50 seconds to brighten someone’s day — despite knowing he was on the clock — was a decision only he could make.
Because I felt the episode had business value, I shared the video on LinkedIn. At the time of this writing, the video has been viewed over three million times, has over 100,000 reactions, and has generated over 2,000 comments (which I eventually shut off). I’ve never experienced something going viral to this magnitude.
As I watched the comments roll in, I was happy to see that the majority of folks felt the same about what they were seeing as I did. People praised the driver, praised UPS for creating a culture where this is encouraged, and shared sentiments of gratitude that there are still good people in this world taking time to do the right thing.
But, as I should have expected, the naysayers appeared. They criticized:
The driver for wasting time.
The driver for not following appropriate safety protocols.
Me for being an uncaring dad by not throwing the football with my son myself.
My wife and me for apparently leaving our kid unwatched, vulnerable to the worst elements of society.
Me for choosing to post “fluff” like this on a professional network.
I‘ll never stop being amazed by folks who find the negative in a heartwarming moment and feel compelled to rip it apart.
I took particular notice of this comment:
It’s no secret that UPS is a data-driven company, and the amount of data the company collects while drivers are on the road is astounding. UPS’ director of process management told NPR that “One minute per driver per day over the course of a year adds up to $14.5 million,” and “One minute of idle per driver per day is worth $500,000 of fuel at the end of the year.” Drivers also have 100 plus stops to make before the end of the day (often closer to 200 during the holidays), and they’re being timed.
As far as I’m concerned, as both a UPS customer and a dad, what this driver did, despite the efficiency pressures placed upon him, was above and beyond. I don’t care how many “clicks” it took, whatever those are. Perhaps, to make up for the time, he didn’t take his union-negotiated break. Perhaps he ate lunch while he drove. Perhaps he was nearing the end of his day. Who knows? (I know who — the driver).
This is what I know: he’s made a loyal customer out of me.
A version of this story originally appeared on Medium.
