New Law in New Jersey is Asking Too Much of Our Delivery Workers

It's been a long day at the office, you get back to your house just to realize that you're out of food, and you decide that there's no way you're running out to the grocery store.

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So, you whip out your phone, open up your food delivery service of choice, and order a hoagie from your favorite spot.

You then notice that there's an option you haven't seen before; Would you like to add a beer, or bottle of wine to your order?

It was a crazy day and feel like you could use a drink so you click yes please!

Twenty to thirty minutes later you're showered, changed, and your food and alcoholic beverage is sitting at your doorstep.

It's not just a theoretical story anymore, it's the future for New Jersey.

According to NJ.com, starting in fall third party food delivery companies will be able to deliver alcohol to Jersey customers.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy says:

“Opening the door to allow for third-party services to deliver alcoholic beverages to New Jersey residents will allow our local businesses to adopt to the everchanging world of technology and e-commerce,” ~Phil Murphy via NJ.com

I was asking my wife about her thoughts on this, and she thinks it's a pretty cool idea; you can get growlers to go from local breweries, so why not get a six pack or bottle of something delivered from the convenience store you're also ordering food from?

Personally, I'm not sure if I wholly agree with this new rule.

The NJ.com article elaborates that it will be the responsibility of the delivery person for making sure that those in the house who plan on consuming the alcohol are at least 21 years old.

In addition if someone isn't 21 or seems to be visibly intoxicated, then the delivery person must deny them their drink order like if they were at a bar.

That can open the door to some problems in my eyes.

For almost a decade of my life I worked in the food industry; from waiting tables, to running food, to bar tending.

There was a short while were I did delivery too.

Let me tell you, when you have to deny someone an alcoholic beverage they ordered because either their ID isn't valid, not everyone is of age, or for whatever reason, those people are not necessarily the friendliest people in the neighborhood after that.

I just think that the convenience of having your favorite alcoholic beverage delivered to your door isn't worth the risk of putting delivery peoples in a possible dangerous situation.

But Wouldn't There Be Precautions Set In Place For Alcohol Delivery?

Yes, there would be!

NJ.com reports that third party delivery services who want to allow alcohol delivery would have to apply for a permit and delivery drivers would also have to go through a back ground check.

My issue is primarily with what happens when a consumer is denied their alcohol order due to an ID issue or age issue.

That's a lot of responsibility to throw onto the driver and has potential to put them in a dangerous situation.

I'd like to see, in the future, these apps have a way to verify peoples age who plan on ordering alcohol in order to prevent any blowback on our delivery workers.

They work hard enough as it is without having to also worry about checking ID's.

What do you think? Is is a good idea to allow third party delivery companies to deliver alcohol or could it open a can of worms for delivery workers?

Let me know: douglas.buehler@townsquaremedia.com