In the past, one of my writing friends hired me as a sensitivity reader, specifically to focus on how she handled racism in her last manuscript.
She was so impressed with the critique that I gave her, she encouraged me to promote myself professionally as a sensitivity reader.
Of course, I’ve not followed up with that, but she hired me again. This time, she copied and pasted several scenes from her current manuscript, which totaled 12 pages. She offered to pay me via an electronic service. Instead, I told her to order a bottle of under $20 Malbec and have it delivered to my place.
She did better than that!
Since the grocery store was going to charge her a delivery fee for a mere bottle Malbec, she added her favorite bottle of Merlot and some holiday cookies as well for free delivery. Way to upsell! I also like to think that I’m worth it.
The package was scheduled to be dropped off between 6–8 PM, so I listened out for a knock since I would have to show my ID to accept an alcohol delivery. By the time I finished cooking and started eating dinner, I’d forgotten about the delivery.
The next morning, my roommate found the package sitting outside our front door before she took her morning walk. Apparently, it had sat outside all night. Even though I was impressed that my apartment complex was safer than I thought, I’ve learned my lesson not to wait for a knock on the door. Actually, my thinking at the time was that it would be placed in the package hub near our mailboxes, but that wasn’t the case either.
In previous years, this was the season for so-called “porch pirates.” Perhaps my package was safe because we rarely have anything delivered to our door, thanks to the package hub. Nonetheless, with the added stress of inflated unemployment due to the plague, more people have been stealing food. Not that wine and cookies are a balanced meal, they’re still edible.
In a strange way, this was my Christmas bonus. An everyday reminder that Christmas was coming with each sip of wine.