Calling a Favor: Ride Along Experience

My friend Jacob Rosenberg and I had talked about what we would be doing over the summer. But never in a million years did I think that our summer experiences would overlap.

Jacob, a recent Emery/Weiner graduate and rising freshman at the University of Texas, is delivering meals all over Houston this summer as a Favor driver. Having worked as a delivery driver before at Panera Bread, Jacob knew he wanted to continue delivery driving over the summer. Working with Favor, a Texas-exclusive delivery service where users can order food from restaurants and have it delivered to their doorsteps, has given Jacob a newfound flexibility with his hours.

“I could do Favor or not do Favor whenever I want to,” he explained. The incoming psychology major and former BBYO chapter president first learned about Favor through his cousin Ben Feldstein, who’d used the app during high school to order lunch. Favor was started in Austin in 2013 and although Jacob is yet to personally order from the app, he decided to apply to be a Favor driver due to its easy application process and flexible schedule.

After downloading Favor’s Runner app on his phone and filling out a form with some basic information, Jacob had to wait less than an hour to be approved by the app. The more Jacob told me about his Favor experience, the more intrigued I was. With little convincing, Jacob agreed to let me come on a ride along for a day to see what it’s like.

11:45 a.m. - 12:36 p.m.  

Jacob Rosenberg's phone setup and the area of Houston he covers as a Favor driver. (Photo: Nathan Lederman)

Jacob and I agreed to meet at my house one Wednesday afternoon. In our texts back and forth he cautioned me that we might have to wait a bit before we got our first order, but it’d pick up as the day went on. As a Favor driver, Jacob is dependent on the hunger of fellow Houstonians and, by the time he got to my house, they just weren’t hungry yet. As we waited, we settled down in my living room where I asked him some questions about his time Favoring while playing Playstation. Usually when waiting for Favor drives Jacob is able to go about his day. He is free to take breaks at home between drives, and is able to unwind by playing video games or watching TV. When he gets a notification from Favor, however, it's go time. After nearly an hour of waiting, we are thrust into our first assignment.

12:36- 12:57 p.m.

Our first stop is Bernie’s Burger Bus on Bellaire, where I had actually eaten dinner the night before. As I take my position in the passenger seat, I see Jacob get into action. The phone is set in the cupholder with the Waze directions app set for Bernie’s. The car is outfitted with a bottle of Febreze Hawaiian Aloha in order to combat the lingering scent of the six different orders Jacob tackles per day. For every order, Jacob is paid $2.10 plus however much customers would like to tip him. In order for Jacob to make a profit while paying for gas, he likes to make approximately six orders every day. The most important aspect of the car setup is the phone connected to the stereo, which immediately starts playing selections from Jacob’s favorite artists. “I listen to so much music,” he tells me as we get ever closer to Bernie’s. Kanye, Tyler the Creator, Childish Gambino, and others provide the soundtrack for the next few hours. During lulls in our conversation, I find Jacob humming along with the music, and can perfectly picture this daily ritual on any average day without the intrusion of the press.

Jacob Rosenberg enters Bernie’s Burger Bus ready to pick up his first delivery of the day. (Photo: Nathan Lederman)

Once inside Bernie’s, it's all about the waiting game. As we stand at the counter looking at previews for the day’s World Cup match, Jacob explains that this particular order was done through Bernie’s system and outsourced to Favor. Normally he would have to notify the customer through the app when he has arrived to the store, when he’s leaving the store and when he’s arrived at their location, but in this case he won’t have to. Soon enough we are back in the car ready to complete the order.

12:57- 1:01 p.m.

Jacob would later describe our Bernie’s delivery as the “most confusing delivery I’ve ever had.” We arrived at a shopping complex in Fondren with absolutely no idea which store we were delivering to. After searching for the exact address listed on the order for a few minutes, and almost calling Favor’s Runner Support, we stumbled upon the delivery recipient, a spiritual practice that offers “metaphysical studies and supplies.”  As we drive off, Jacob remarks, “You see a lot of interesting things when you’re driving for Favor.”

1:17- 1:46 p.m.

It doesn’t take very long before another Favor notification appears on Jacob’s phone. Usually he has a break between his first drive of the day and the next, but today we barely have time to get on the highway before we start heading towards Salata. Once we find parking, Jacob bolts up the stairs. His dedication is pretty hard to keep up with as I attempt to reach him before he goes into the restaurant. For this particular order, Jacob must go down an assembly line detailing the customer’s salad/burrito assembled based on their specifications. Once assembled, Jacob and I deliver our second order to a hair salon in Rice Village. As we get back to the car, Jacob remarks that we are close to one of his favorite Thai places and we could try to stop there for a quick lunch.

1:55 - 2:15 p.m. (Lunch Break) 

Jacob's "in the zone" between deliveries. (Photo: Nathan Lederman)

While on the job Jacob either eats before his first drive, or waits until after he is done with his day. The reason for why he does so becomes apparent quickly. Jacob tells me to order my meal in a to-go box and I think he’s exaggerating about timing; we’ll have time to quickly eat, right? Well, not really. We get through a few bites before we receive our third notification. I look at him in disbelief as I pack up my food. We’re back on the grind.

2:15 - 2:56 p.m.

Next, we are headed to Kata Robata to pick up an assortment of sushi. When Jacob calls to order, however, we are told that they are not taking to-go orders today. I look at Jacob, wondering how he’s going to handle this one, but he’s able to get them to let him order it on location and take it to-go. We arrive, expecting the restaurant to be packed, but to our surprise there aren’t too many people there. As we wait, we debate going to the car to eat our leftovers from lunch but ultimately decide against it in case the food comes out while we’re in the car. This turns out to be the right decision. Before I knew it, I was carrying two cups of green tea to the door as Jacob handled the bags of sushi and rang the doorbell.

3:18 - 5:15 p.m.

Jacob Rosenberg places an order from Sonic. (Photo: Nathan Lederman)

I’m not sure whether this hectic pace happens to Jacob on a daily basis, or whether I was ill-equipped to handle a full day of Favor deliveries, but the different Favor drives began to blur together. It didn’t help that the last three places we delivered from were fast-food places. From Sonic to the Crowne Plaza Hotel or McDonalds to Missouri City, I was left extremely impressed by how Jacob was able to maintain his composure throughout even the later and more difficult deliveries in the day. When it came time to deliver our final meal of the day Jacob was still humming along with his stereo. Funnily enough our last delivery saw us bring a bag of Chick-Fil-A to a current Emery student. Small world! As we got back to my house, and heated up our uneaten lunches from earlier in the day, I asked him whether he would be able to do it all over again tomorrow. He just laughed a bit before digging in.

Sure enough, as I returned to The Buzz the next day to start writing this article Jacob was back out there doing it all over again.