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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsI saw something sad the other night
Last edited Thu Feb 9, 2023, 11:40 PM - Edit history (1)
Craftygal is incontinent and wears adult briefs. I knew we were getting low but I came down with the flu (update: turned out to be COVID) and was pretty much out of it and didn't realize we'd run out. I was in no condition to run out for more so I signed up for a delivery service and ordered two cases from Walmart.
Quick as a bunny I got notification that someone was in the store shiopping, then they were on their way, then they pulled up. Turned out to be a woman with a child in a car seat. I made a point of way over tipping.
I put no blame on her. I just have visions of her camped out in the Walmart parking lot waiting for her app to chime for her next gig.
Is this what the "gig economy" has brought us to?

Hekate
(98,600 posts)And yes, this is where we are.
But this is for you and I hope your flu is better.
KS Toronado
(21,060 posts)They probably pay them shit.
mobeau69
(12,077 posts)Demobrat
(10,187 posts)Maybe thats why she does it.
BlueWaveNeverEnd
(10,847 posts)TrogL
(32,828 posts)Not sure how that works but I think they're independent contractors who just go to the relevant store
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)of where a capitalistic society should be-- someone is making a buck doing a good and necessary thing
brush
(60,645 posts)For retirees it gives additional income. For others it's a side gig and/or income until a better job comes along.
And in Biden's economy, there are jobs out there if someone is looking.
Demobrat
(10,187 posts)Ive had groceries and medicine delivered that way when I was sick. Its great to have as an option.
JI7
(92,342 posts)We don't know everything. But one thing people like about the gig economy is flexibility .
One thing we know is it usually pays more for less time than the usual minimum wage jobs like in fast food , retail stores etc.
People also pick up these jobs/orders based on what is most convenient. She may already have been doing another order in the same place .
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)She may, for instance, have someone sick at home who keeps her from committing to regular hours and find this opportunity for additional income very helpful.
Or, perhaps she's a high-skilled medical professional but (because too many people believed those who told them not to vote Democratic?) Republicans took over and closed the local regional medical center, throwing her and her whole county into recession.
Or/and she may lack skills that would allow her to fill any of the steady positions in demand, or again be unable to move to take one. There's a genuine labor shortage in hundreds of positions from bottom to upper reaches of the wage scale.
Lack of decent-paying jobs is not the problem in itself, even if many are underpaid. When polled, a large majority say they're doing okay themselves but worry about "others." As TrogL is.
secondwind
(16,903 posts)Just my two cents.
Wingus Dingus
(9,173 posts)literally every day. I would have loved a job where I could tote my kids along.
TrogL
(32,828 posts)haele
(14,409 posts)We have 4 adults, 2 drivers (I'm one of the drivers, but am partially disabled and need an upcoming knee replacement, so I can't do stores anymore) and one working car.
I use shopping/delivery services pretty much every week (primarily Shipit, because that's the Target delivery service and they're closest) because it's hard for me to go out and pick something up curbside if the other driver has the car for her work. And I'm typically the only household member who is keeping track of what we need or what is running low.
I tip well, minimum of $10 or $20%, even if it's for the minimum $35 order. Since I use the service almost weekly and have been raised to be polite and grateful for any help, I am now on first name/text discussion familiarity with three different Shipit delivery folks who always seem to answer depending on time of day I order. Out of the three, one does it full time (I found out his wife works and he's the stay at home dad with kids in school), one is a college student, and one works during the week and does this on the weekends. of The weekend worker has a five-year old with her.
I try to treat them like valued employees when I use a delivery service. It might be cheaper to wait until 8 pm and do curbside pickup, but they're helping me maintain my household and manage my time off work -and they're far better pickers than the floor employees rushing about trying to grab something off the shelf and not noticing a damaged container spilling sugar or juice all over the place or that they grabbed canned pickled beets instead of tomato sauce.
Haele
BWdem4life
(2,572 posts)She'll be paying 15.2% self-employment tax on her earnings, (in addition to federal tax), and probably is not even keeping track of her mileage to deduct as an expense.
IcyPeas
(23,926 posts)A delivery driver's car was stolen with her kids inside and it reveals the complicated reality of juggling gig work and childcare
The flexibility of delivery work for companies like DoorDash, Uber Eats, or Instacart can be appealing to parents. But the unpredictable income from gig work can make paying for childcare while out on deliveries uneconomical.
"Most independent workers who are doing this work are at the low end of the pay spectrum, which makes childcare so expensive," Lindsey Cameron, a professor of management at Wharton business school who studies the gig economy, told Insider. She noted that gig workers often bring their children on jobs because childcare costs are prohibitive.
Last year, a DoorDash delivery driver in Georgia had her car stolen with her 1-year-old daughter inside. The baby was found on the porch of a nearby home. In San Francisco, a DoorDash driver's car was also stolen with his children inside last year. His children were found safe, but the delivery worker, Jeffrey Fang, was criticized for having his kids in the car.
The practice of bringing a child along for a delivery rarely makes headlines unless the unthinkable happens.
https://www.businessinsider.com/doordash-drivers-stolen-car-reveals-truth-about-childcare-gig-work-2022-12
https://nypost.com/2021/03/18/doordash-delivery-drivers-car-stolen-with-1-year-old-inside/
https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/doordash-child-kidnapping-san-francisco-children-suv/