Seeing naked women, finding dates and being mugged for food are the hazards, or in some cases benefits, of a pizza delivery person’s job, some local delivery workers say.

In a college town like Carbondale, pizza is a common food item. But the experiences that come with pizza delivery are unique to the job.

Scott Stroup, a senior in psychology and administration of justice from Markham, said he has been delivering pizzas for Papa John’s for about a year.

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One of the more unusual deliveries Stroup made was to a hotel room last summer, he said.

Two women had ordered a pizza from us, and when one of them came to the door, she didn’t have any clothes on, he said. She was trying to hide herself behind the door, but she wasn’t doing a good job of it.

A rule of thumb for delivery drivers is to lock their car doors at all times, Stroup said.

I’ve had several people try to steal pizzas from my car, he said. Usually it’s college kids who just want a free meal.

Stroup said a friend of his got into a fight with two guys who were trying to steal his pizzas, and went to court over it.

Brian Clements, from Plainfield, said he has worked as a delivery driver for six years, both in the Joliet area and at Quatro’s in Carbondale.

Clements said he remembers when a co-worker hit it off with a girl who was ordering pizza over the phone.

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His friend arranged to bring the pizza himself, but when the time came, he was too nervous to deliver it to her, Clements said.

I said I’d take the delivery for him and see what she looked like, Clements said. When I got there, she opened the door she was drop-dead gorgeous. She said,’ Are you the person I talked to on the phone?’ I said, No, but I wish I were.’ We ended up going out for around three years.

Clements said there was one incident in Joliet where he went to a bad part of town to deliver pizzas to an apartment complex.

When I got to the address, I saw someone peeking around the corner, he said. The guy said,’ If you don’t want to get hurt give me the pizzas.’ Then three of his buddies joined him. I just told him it wasn’t worth getting into a fight over a couple of pizzas.

Clements said he handed over the pizzas and left the building safely.

With tales like these, is it worth it to carry cheesy Italian pies for minimum wage? Stroup said he thinks so.

It’s not that bad of a job, Stroup said. The people that I work with are like family. This is the best job I’ve had since I’ve been down here.