Northern News Services

NNSL (May 06/98) - When it's supper time and you're too tired to cook, he's your man to call.

The pizza guy is always ready to deliver.

For the past several weeks Jon Payne has been delivering pizzas for Dominos on Old Airport Road. And why does he do it?

"For the money. Good tips and good pay," said Payne, donned in a Domino's hat and matching shirt, just before clocking in at work on Sunday evening.

"The people here are pretty good, too," he said.

Payne, who also works full-time at MicroAge as the assistant purchasing manager, said pizza delivery nicely supplements his income.

"In Yellowknife you need two jobs. The rent is so expensive," he said.

Payne usually gets $1 to $2 per delivery plus his wage. It's not surprising for him to make upwards of $100 a night.

The supper rush is the busiest for the pizza guy. It's like a mad maze, because five people at one time end up using the store's one computer, he said.

It's been busier than normal lately he said because of the hockey playoffs.

On Friday night he took 26 orders and delivered 36 pizzas between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.

"Usually when you come back from a delivery there's a pizza waiting for you so you take it out and you come back and there's still a pizza waiting," he said.

While delivering pizzas, Payne said he sees his share of sights, mostly at drinking parties.

"This one place I went to and people were drunk and they had no money and they were claiming they had lost their money and finally the lady who owned the building tried to kick them out so then I just gave the pizza to the lady," said Payne.

"Sometimes we get people who are too much in the party mood and want us to join in. They offer me a beer for the road but of course you can't be drinking and driving."

There was another incident this past weekend when he delivered a pizza to a house and everyone inside was dancing wildly in front of a window.

"I drove past the house I didn't know the address and I looked back and saw ladies there dancing in the big bay window. Then I backed up and when I got there the guy came down and gave me the money really quick and he kind of pushed me aside, and thanked me to get me lost."