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![Robin Flanigan drives for DoorDash Robin Flanigan, of Irondequoit, NY, during her DoorDash shift, Saturday, September 7, 2024.](https://aarp.widen.net/content/qke2qrm2lu/jpeg/RobinFlaniganDoorDash_09072024_MB5.jpg?crop=true&anchor=9,121&q=80&color=ffffffff&u=k2e9ec&w=2036&h=1170)
What do you do as an empty-nester in your mid-50s? If you’re like me, you take to the streets.
If your mind is in the gutter, not that kind of work. I’m talking about driving for DoorDash.
I got the idea after visiting a friend whose 20-year-old son was on his way out the door for a shift with the food delivery service to earn going-out money.
I thought, hey I’m living on a one-person income. I could use a few extra bucks to go out.
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But was I too old? I certainly wasn’t in the majority. Fifty-one percent of “Dashers” are between 20 and 30 years old, with only 10 percent over 40, according to job search site Zippia.
My mother hated the idea, my daughter warned me against sexual predators and I keep it a secret from a close friend because I don’t want any more judgment.
![She enjoy DoorDashing Robin Flanigan at a restaurant picking up a delivery order](https://aarp.widen.net/content/ewnzi50gay/jpeg/RobinFlaniganDoorDash_09072024_MB23.jpg?crop=true&anchor=1,160&q=80&color=ffffffff&u=k2e9ec&w=2040&h=1172)
But I’ve been an entrepreneur since I can remember — collecting cans to turn back into the store for cash, writing books — and that means sometimes forging ahead into the unknown.
Plus, Dashing is exciting. I feel like I’m in a video game — somebody else has the controls and, for the most part, is responsible for where I go. I never know what’s coming next, and there’s a thrill in that.
I don’t have an addictive personality, yet Dashing feels addictive. It’s a common scenario that when my shift ends and I have the option to press the “Dash Now” button again, I have a conversation with myself about why it’s good to stop and go back home. Or I finish with work on a gorgeous Tuesday afternoon an hour before meeting up with a friend to go swimming and think I could get in a 45-minute Dash.
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