Introduction

For those who don't know, Athens is a small town in Southeastern Ohio that would be unremarkable if it were not for one thing: Ohio University. And with the university comes college students, 20,501 of them to be exact. What happens when you squeeze over 20,000 students into an 8.3-mile radius in the middle of absolutely nowhere? They find something to do. In the case of OU students, they drink. They drink a lot.

Even if you aren’t from Athens, you may know OU as one of the top party schools in America. Despite attempts by administrative officials to refocus OU's image, the students are keeping the image alive. Athens is infested with early- to late-twenty-somethings who keep the booze flowing around the clock.

But the students can’t do it by themselves. To maintain a working party town, a certain infrastructure is needed. There must be, of course, plenty of bars, which Athens has. Numerous gas stations are also necessary to supply house parties with Nati and High Life. There must also be a liquor store, in this case, Lucky Dog.

Yet, among all the elements that build the perfect party town, there is one that is rarely realized. Yes, I'm talking about late night food delivery services and their employees.

Delivery drivers may be the most tragic figures in Athens. Drivers miss the pleasures of 12-hour drinking binges so that they can supply customers with whatever their stomach desires at 3 a.m. Drivers miss all the street fests. They sacrifice the Halloween block party and the homecoming festivities. While everyone is out running amok, these selfless souls are driving around Athens' horrific brick streets, dodging drunks who can't stay on the sidewalk, dealing with prank deliveries and coping with the rejection of unanswered doors, all for you, their valued customers.

But why? Are Athens delivery drivers really such a caring lot that they would sacrifice the best parties in Athens just to bring dopey smiles and cheers to the drunkest of OU's fine student body? Or are they just regular people looking to make a buck? Who exactly are these brave individuals who have decided to make their living dealing with the booze-induced shenanigans and debauchery of Athens?

That's what I'm going to find out.

The point of this blog is to gain a glimpse into the lives of Athens' late night snack heroes, to humanize those angel-like beings who are cherished when they arrive but forgotten by the next morning. I plan to interview and ride along with the delivery drivers of Athens, and post what I find here. From the craziest things they have ever witnessed, to the most mundane tasks of their job, I hope to tell the story of Athens' nights from a perspective that many people will never experience, the perspective of the Athens delivery driver.