Our Delivery Driver Used to Be Like an Angry Bird

One afternoon at Fosetter, our ginseng and dried-goods shop in Montreal's Chinatown, Carmen and one of our team were unpacking boxes when talk turned to the driver who had just been by. These are the shop's own words, laughter included.

"Like an angry bird"

"You know A Xing? He used to be like an angry bird. Remember? Wow, so fierce. If we were a little late getting the boxes ready, he'd get mad and just leave."

"He used to be really fierce when he came to us for deliveries. He'd say, I'm not waiting, I don't want to wait, I'm going. Not even one minute."

He was the one who picked up the parcels the shop sends across the country.

"The first time he came to our shop to pick up, we were shipping out to Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, and he was the one who came to collect it all. He was just like an angry bird. Really fierce."

Softened

Then, somewhere along the way, he changed.

"I remember some people who came into our shop for the first time. At the start their faces were all fierce, and later they turned so gentle. He changed too. Now he comes in on purpose and jokes, you don't have anything for me to take?"

"One day he gave me his phone number. He said, you can call me. I said OK, I'll call you."

Why the change? The shop has its own explanation.

"Because if we can give him a hand, we always will. Like just now. He should have been the one helping me carry things into the shop. We don't mind. We help him load. Sister Cui helped carry it all into the big truck."

No money, no honey

"And I always shout the same slogan at him. No money, no honey! He remembered it. Now every time he sees me, it's no money, no honey. So funny, you know? Really, really funny."

Customers too

The same goes for some of the people who walk through the door.

"Even our customers. Sometimes they're really fierce the first time they come in. But that's just their aura. Really, it's life pushing them, you know? Nobody has it easy."

"Some of them came in crying. And now they're all fine. They've become friends. It's actually really nice, watching them change. Running a shop is like that. It's like being in a stage play."

Parcels like the ones A Xing picks up still go out from the shop. You can order from our Canadian ginseng collection with shipping within Canada.

Drop by 78 Rue De La Gauchetière Ouest. Fierce or gentle, you're welcome at Fosetter.