SIOUX CITY | Ray Freese’s wife Julie might have struck gold when it came to picking a husband. After all, how many people get to say they are married to a flower delivery driver?
“I’ve delivered flowers to her many times,” he said. “I’ve done it so many times that it doesn’t really surprise her anymore.”
Freese, 70, started the job with A Step in Thyme eight years ago after retiring as a credit card collector for a bank.
“I just wanted something to do after retirement,” he said.
Freese said he arrives at 8:30 a.m. and delivers flowers all over the city and the surrounding areas until typically noon or 1 p.m.
“Usually I’m done early afternoons,” he said, “but sometimes it will go longer. It just depends on the day.”
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He enjoys the job because he gets to see people who are pleasantly surprised with a flower delivery all day long.
“Most of the people, they get flowers, they’re happy,” he said. “Probably 95 percent of my deliveries are to ladies and they’re always excited when their husband or boyfriend or whoever sends them flowers.”
Freese also regularly delivers to funeral homes.
Being a flower deliverer isn’t all dealing with excited wives and girlfriends or dropping off flowers at funeral homes, Freese added. He considers dealing with other drivers on the road the worst part of the job.
“Probably the worst thing is the traffic or other drivers,” he said. “If you aren’t paying attention, you’ll get hit. Thank God I never have been. There have been close calls though. I think they should ban cell phones on the road. People aren't watching what's going on in front of them.”
Despite this, he wants to continue delivering flowers for as long as possible.
“As long as my health is good and I can drive, I’ll be doing this job,” he said.
Freese drives about 100 miles per day and fills the gas tank at least once and sometimes up to three times per week.
“It really depends on where I’m going,” he said. “Sometimes all my deliveries are within 10 blocks of the store so it doesn’t take much gas, but then sometimes I’m doing deliveries in Jefferson (South Dakota) or Sergeant Bluff (Iowa) and that will take more gas.”
Fortunately, Freese enjoys driving, which is obviously important considering that is the main focus of his job.
“Driving doesn’t bother me,” he said. “It’s just when you run into someone on the road who isn’t paying attention. People need to realize they are driving potentially dangerous machines."
It helps, though, when the car you drive is likely the best smelling car in town since it's full of fresh cut flowers.
"Well, maybe," he said with a laugh. "I guess you could say that."
