I’ve always wondered if food delivery people are ever tempted to sneak a little taste before delivering the goods, and now I have my answer.

A delivery man in Madurai in southern India decided to skim a little off the top of the food he was supposed to be delivering. Unfortunately for him, there was a camera rolling.

The video, which was shared on social media, quickly went viral. The man in the video works for Zomato, a popular food delivery app in India.

Take a look:

When @ZomatoIN @Zomato food is lighter than usual….. pic.twitter.com/Xnau9Xdc9j

— Viv (@SudIndus) December 10, 2018

Not his best work.

According to the BBC, when the video first did the rounds, it was met with “disgust, anger and ridicule”.

The social reactions prompted Zomato, India’s biggest food delivery company, to react with a statement that they took “food tampering very seriously”.

“We have spoken to him at length and while we understand that this was a human error in judgement, we have taken him off our platform,” the company added.

However, when the delivery man was fired, the tone on social media switched from anger to sympathy.

Delivery people are notoriously exploited in India, suffering long work hours, difficult conditions and poor pay.

“Earlier we used to get 60 rupees [85 cents] per delivery. Then from 60 it became 40. Still I continued because I had to educate my children. Now the company is planning to make it 30 rupees per delivery. But I have expenses – petrol is expensive, I have children as well. Tell me what should I do?” one delivery person, who did not want to be identified, told the BBC.

Another said “I am the sole bread earner in my family. In case I have an accident, I don’t have an insurance policy. The company doesn’t give us insurance either. If there is a mishap then I will be in trouble. The company should think about that.”

With an estimated six to eight million people joining the Indian workforce every year, and with jobs not growing anywhere close to that rate, many people are willing to accept even menial jobs with exploitative work conditions just so that they earn some level of income.

Goes to show – it’s always a good idea to look at something from both sides, before making a snap call.

[source:bbc]