A misunderstanding turned into a sweet moment.
The dog was really to blame for all this.
Much to his chagrin, Australian resident Mark Polchleb recently went viral on Tiktok after sharing that he unknowingly yelled at his DoorDash driver as he approached the front door.
Polchleb had not actually been shouting “get away from the door, mate!” to the innocent driver, but rather to his rambunctious dog, who clearly could smell food fast approaching and began barking in anticipation.
Unfortunately, this was lost in translation, and the driver put down the delivery in shame as he slowly backed away before leaving.
@markp_ Im genuinely losing sleep over this. He was so sweet and my dog is a menace 🥺
♬ original sound - fiona’s gf
Polchleb saw what had happened after reviewing his security camera footage and was instantly dismayed. He told TODAY, “I couldn’t bear the thought of someone thinking I disrespected them for just doing their job!”
“I’ve genuinely lost sleep over this,” he added in a follow-up TikTok.
Others were quick to commiserate in the comments section.
"The way I’m actually shedding tears thinking of how he must have felt disregarded and a nuisance. I’m feeling sick,” wrote one person
“I WOULD LOSE SLEEP FOR DAYSSSSSS,” wrote another.
Of course, finding a way to apologize would be no easy feat. Not long after the delivery is done, customers have no way of contacting their DoorDash driver. But that didn’t stop a determined Polchleb from reaching out on TikTok for help.
And luckily, being viral meant millions of people were ready to spread the word. What could have been a long and arduous process came to fruition in the blink of an eye.
@markp_#duet with @maroob ♬ original sound - fiona’s gf
“It took only two days to track him down,” Polchleb told TODAY. “His daughter stumbled across my original TikTok after around 7 million views, and I was able to connect with her, and then her dad.”
Polchleb posted a follow-up TikTok showing a sweet reunion with the driver, who we can affectionately call Sami.
@markp_ Replying to @stylands ♬ original sound - Mark Polchleb
In the video we hear Polchleb say, “This afternoon I got to head out and meet with my DoorDasher Sami to say thank you in person and make sure he was happy,” followed by the two sharing a hug.
But wait, there’s more. This story gets an even happier ending.
DoorDash soon heard about the incident and gave Sami “Top Dasher” status for life as well as extra Dasher pay. Then Sami’s daughter Mary set up a GoFundMe so that he could visit his son in France.
Sami wrote on the fundraiser website, “I came to Australia 8 years ago as a refugee and I haven’t seen my son for 10 years. He lives in France, and I have to do some work to book a ticket to see him.”So far, more than AU$8,000 has been raised, well surpassing the AU$2,000 goal. It looks like this misunderstanding was a blessing in disguise.
Delivery drivers often have to put up with a lot. Rude customers, terrible tips or worse, tip baiting, where a large tip is offered for fast service then taken away, are just some of the unsavory common occurrences. It’s great that Polchleb went out of his way to make sure Sami was treated with kindness and appreciation.What are Alison and Tod talking about this week? Making your own luck, why people from the past looked older and advice for living in ridiculous times.
Upworthy Weekly podcast for July 16, 2022
The show opens with Tod sharing great advice on making your own luck he learned from Dr. Christian Busch. Later, why did people look older in the past and should young guys get vasectomies?
Plus, advice for living in ridiculous times and Alison has COVID-19.
Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or iHeart Radio.
Were people unhealthy? Did they spend too much time in the sun?
Norm was only in his 30s?
Ever look at your parents' high school yearbooks and think people looked so much older back then? All of the teenagers look like they’re in their mid-30s and the teachers who are 50 look like they’re 80.
When we watch older movies, even those from the 1980s, the teenagers appear to be a lot older as well.
Why is it that they looked so much older? Was life harder? Did people act more mature? Did they spend more time outdoors and less time playing video games? Is it their sense of fashion? Were they all smokers?
Educator Michael Stevens, who runs the super-popular Vsauce YouTube channel, explains the phenomenon in a new video called, “Did people used to look older?” In the video, he explains that people in the past appear a lot older due to a phenomenon known as retrospective aging.
When we see people in the past, they are wearing outdated styles that we associate with older people; therefore, we think they have aged rapidly. For example, a teenager in the 1950s may have been in fashion while wearing thick Buddy Holly-style glasses.
But as people age, they tend to cling to the fashion of their youth. So many people of that generation continued to wear the Buddy Holly-style glasses into their 50s. So when younger people see those glasses they see them as old people's glasses and not a hip kid from the '50s.
So in the photo from the '50s, the teen appears to look a lot older because our perspective has been tainted by time.
But it isn’t all just an illusion. Stevens also points out that people did age faster back in the day due to differences in nutrition, lifestyle and medicine.
