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TrogL

(32,828 posts)
Tue Feb 7, 2023, 04:22 AM Feb 2023

I 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?

17 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Hekate

(98,600 posts)
1. Trog, you have a kind heart
Tue Feb 7, 2023, 04:27 AM
Feb 2023

And yes, this is where we are.

But this is for you and I hope your flu is better.

TrogL

(32,828 posts)
11. It was through the Instacart app
Tue Feb 7, 2023, 10:29 AM
Feb 2023

Not sure how that works but I think they're independent contractors who just go to the relevant store

TreasonousBastard

(43,049 posts)
3. I don't see this as a bad thing. I see it as tbe pinnacle.
Tue Feb 7, 2023, 04:42 AM
Feb 2023

of where a capitalistic society should be-- someone is making a buck doing a good and necessary thing

brush

(60,645 posts)
4. Many have groceries delivered that way too.
Tue Feb 7, 2023, 05:07 AM
Feb 2023

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)
7. Safeway uses DoorDash
Tue Feb 7, 2023, 05:12 AM
Feb 2023

I’ve had groceries and medicine delivered that way when I was sick. It’s great to have as an option.

JI7

(92,342 posts)
8. Not sure this is necessarily a bad/sad thing
Tue Feb 7, 2023, 05:27 AM
Feb 2023

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)
16. Umhm. More flexible than temp work. We don't know all.
Tue Feb 7, 2023, 05:57 PM
Feb 2023

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.

Wingus Dingus

(9,173 posts)
14. Riding around and shopping with mom? My kids did that for free
Tue Feb 7, 2023, 03:41 PM
Feb 2023

literally every day. I would have loved a job where I could tote my kids along.

haele

(14,409 posts)
12. For most, it's supplemental income.
Tue Feb 7, 2023, 10:59 AM
Feb 2023

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)
13. Here's the worst part:
Tue Feb 7, 2023, 02:33 PM
Feb 2023

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)
15. and then there are stories like this where cars are stolen WITH THE KIDS INSIDE
Tue Feb 7, 2023, 05:41 PM
Feb 2023

A delivery driver's car was stolen with her kids inside — and it reveals the complicated reality of juggling gig work and childcare

A DoorDash delivery worker had her car stolen with her twin babies inside earlier this week in Ohio. The children were eventually found, but the frightening incident highlighted a reality for many gig workers — their kids come with them on deliveries.

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/
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