Zen and the art of pizza delivery

From the NPR series "This I believe" c. May 2005, emailed to me in June 2005.

**
*If I have one operating philosophy about life it is this: "Be cool to the
pizza delivery dude; it's good luck." Four principles guide the pizza dude
philosophy. *

*Principle 1: Coolness to the pizza delivery dude is a practice in humility
and forgiveness. I let him cut me off in traffic, let him safely hit the
exit ramp from the left lane, let him forget to use his blinker without
extending any of my digits out the window or towards my horn because there
should be one moment in my harried life when a car may encroach or cut off
or pass and I let it go. Sometimes when I have become so certain of my
ownership of my lane, daring anyone to challenge me, the pizza dude speeds
by me in his rusted Chevette. His pizza light atop his car glowing like a
beacon reminds me to check myself as I flow through the world. After all,
the dude is delivering pizza to young and old, families and singletons, gays
and straights, blacks, whites and browns, rich and poor, vegetarians and
meat lovers alike. As he journeys, I give safe passage, practice restraint,
show courtesy, and contain my anger. *

*Principle 2: Coolness to the pizza delivery dude is a practice in empathy.
Let's face it: We've all taken jobs just to have a job because some money is
better than none. I've held an assortment of these jobs and was grateful for
the paycheck that meant I didn't have to share my Cheerios with my cats. In
the big pizza wheel of life, sometimes you're the hot bubbly cheese and
sometimes you're the burnt crust. It's good to remember the fickle spinning
of that wheel.*

*Principle 3: Coolness to the pizza delivery dude is a practice in honor and
it reminds me to honor honest work. Let me tell you something about these
dudes: They never took over a company and, as CEO, artificially inflated the
value of the stock and cashed out their own shares, bringing the company to
the brink of bankruptcy, resulting in 20,000 people losing their jobs while
the CEO builds a home the size of a luxury hotel. Rather, the dudes sleep
the sleep of the just.*

*Principle 4: Coolness to the pizza delivery dude is a practice in equality.
My measurement as a human being, my worth, is the pride I take in performing
my job -- any job -- and the respect with which I treat others. I am the
equal of the world not because of the car I drive, the size of the TV I own,
the weight I can bench press, or the calculus equations I can solve. I am
the equal to all I meet because of the kindness in my heart. And it all
starts here -- with the pizza delivery dude.*

*Tip him well, friends and brethren, for that which you bestow freely and
willingly will bring you all the happy luck that a grateful universe knows
how to return.*