According to an Instagram post authenticated with an image, a Swedish delivery driver left a large parcel of fresh fruit and veg jammed into a pram occupied by a sleeping baby.
I had found yet another example of everyday creativity through which the routine is elevated into a memorable event.
The mother rang the company to complain and the driver apparently stricken with remorse turned up with flowers and sweets to apologise, and a modest cheque from the company.
Other examples of unexpected deliveries make news briefly from time to time. There’s the parcel cunningly concealed in a bush. And on bin day, left in a refuse collection bin.
One was reported as having materialised in the purchaser’s living room, presumably via an open window, rather than through one of Santa’s secret helpers.
Another parcel was wedged behind a car’s windscreen wipers.
A less successful drop sailed over a fence, landing in a swimming pool.
I’m not saying these and other stories all happened. There is the possibility of urban myths springing up to enlighten social gatherings.
But my guess is the hundred or more drop-offs required every day forces the driver (no assistant, for this type of work) to discover out-of-the-ordinary responses.
Excellent examples of everyday creativity, don’t you think?
[Acknowledgement: I am grateful to two anonymous journalists for the examples I borrowed here, from the Guardian column Pass Notes No 4,501, Delivery Disasters, 5 January 2023.
TR]