Working past retirement age because your benefits don’t cover your needs is ridiculous. You could say it’s unacceptable, and thankfully most people would agree. If you have your doubts about that, you’ll want to see this story.
In Weber County, a humble pizza delivery driver makes the rounds. His name isn’t Peter Parker, but Derlin Newey. Although not unlike Peter Parker, he is a working-class hero to the core. The combination of his senior age and profession is unusual, and the people receiving deliveries from him think so too.
He wouldn’t be working this job at his age without good reason. And that reason is one we’re all familiar with: bills.
There is social security to help senior citizens, sure. However, it’s far from the best it can be. There’s a whole lot to unpack here on economic stability and benefits, but hardly any time to cover all of it.
What’s relevant here is how it affects people like Derlin.
An employee of Papa John’s, he’s had as many customers as they have flavors and toppings.
But despite the massive number of people his branch delivers to in Roy, they began to recognize Derlin. In no small part due to his kind, friendly demeanor. He’d always greet Carlos Valdez, one of his regular customers, with “Are you looking for some pizza?”.
This friendly, happy-to-see-you nature about him, in addition to his age, is why Carlos Valdez and his wife began asking their Papa John’s to send Derlin specifically to deliver their orders. Carlos thought it too interesting not to share, and so began regularly making TikToks of Derlin’s deliveries.
Pretty soon, their cataloging of Derlin’s deliveries to their home on TikTok prompted some discourse about why a senior citizen is having to work as a delivery driver.
@vendingheadsWhat is this guy doing delivering Pizzas? True hustler 🙏 ##fyp ##delivery ##nest ##nestdoorbell ##amazon ##amazonprime ##fedex ##ups ##usps♬ Wii – Mii Channel – Super Guitar Bros
Valdez echoed their sentiments, saying “Somebody at that age should not be working that much,”
Indeed, with the long list of physical disadvantages that the elderly have to deal with, like back pains, arthritis, osteoporosis, and so on, there’s a pretty good reason why you don’t normally see people in their 80s doing this sort of work.
@vendingheadsLast day to donate to our Tik Tok ##🍕man I can’t wait to see his reaction ##blessing ##blessed ##venmochallenge I ca♬ original sound – Carlos Valdez
Valdez and his TikTok followers all felt the same, and of course, that drove them to some action. As unique a sight as it may be, Derlin really ought to be retired and resting. He’s nearly 90, in case it wasn’t clear.
They weren’t going to wait around for Papa John’s to give him a raise, or hope Derlin meets some ultra-rich customer to give him a massive tip.
With that many TikTok followers, Carlos had the audience he needed for a proper fundraiser. The word spread, and the more people who heard about Derlin, the more donations Valdez was able to raise.
@vendingheadsToday is the big day! We all came together on this one 🙏 ##fyp ##venmochallenge ##vendingheads ##🍕man♬ Mood – 24KGoldn
The tally by the end of it all was an impressive $12,000. All of it just for Derlin.
Now Carlos had to pay Derlin a visit to hand the money over. It’s his turn to play delivery guy.
Derlin resided in a mobile home, to further highlight his financial circumstances. Social security just can’t cut it for everything these days. But his endurance at 89 is legendary, to say the least. He works about 30 hours a week.
Before dropping by Derlin’s home, they acquired a T-shirt bearing the words “Hello, are you looking for some pizza?”.
This was, of course, just a decoy gift. A Red Herring, as they say.
The real gift was, of course, the cash. Valdez handed it over, saying “We collectively collected a gift for you, and I’m here to deliver that gift to you on behalf of the TikTok community”. The sender field even read, “TikTok family“.
Derlin’s jaw dropped when he opened the envelope. There was an audible crack in his voice from the emotion, and he was on the verge of tears. Carlos and his TikTok followers had done a wonderful thing for an old man who was just trying to get by.
“How do I ever say thank you? I don’t know what to say.”
Hopefully, this gift should start to make things right for Derlin. It seems Carlos came at the right time and knew the right people.
It should also be a wake-up call to many of us that our current social security could be much better, and that even people Derlin’s age aren’t guaranteed a life of settling down and retiring.
This happy ending led to an even happier ending. Carlos and Derlin became good friends, and Carlos helped set up a PO box and other donation methods for people to regularly send Derlin some helping cash.
@vendingheadsWith Derlin ##fyp ##foryou ##venmochallenge ##🍕man ##bekind ##newbestie♬ Wii – Mii Channel – Super Guitar Bros
Carlos also assures us that he will come running to help the moment Derlin needs help with something.
After you watch the whole clip below, give the article a share so more can see. Maybe some lawmakers in the making might see and set the road to a better future for people like Derlin.
Watch more in the video below.
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