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Interesting article but deceptively titled. I guess for the publication it is in it makes sense. This article is almost exclusively about immigrant bike-based c
by criley2 7y ago
Interesting article but deceptively titled. I guess for the publication it is in it makes sense. This article is almost exclusively about immigrant bike-based couriers in New York City and basically does not mention car based delivery, delivery apps or delivery workers outside of the NYC area.
It was interesting to learn about the NYC delivery scene and how fresh immigrants who don't even know english have a long history of being bike couriers.
But in my top 10 American city I've never had a Postmates or UberEats driver that wasn't Americanized and speaking good English. Not that it matters at all, food is food and a job is a job, but the article basically describes nothing at all similar to food apps and delivery workers in the rest of the country.
- alanbernstein 7y agoI guess this is how people outside the US feel when they read an article that doesn't specify "in the US".
- criley2 7y agoI was unaware non-Americans went to American websites and didn't like that the American content was American. I've personally never gone to a .co.uk or .ca website and felt bothered that the content was British or Canadian, myself.
- xtracto 7y agoI agree. That's why I never visit .us domains, I generally limit myself to the international domains.
- gruez 7y agoEven though .com isn't specific to the US, it is by default. eg. amazon.com vs amazon.co.uk
- fipar 7y agoBut were you unaware that non-New Yorkers went to New York websites and didn't like that the New York content was New Yorker? ;)
- criley2 7y agoIf by "unaware" you mean "clearly demonstrated awareness by describing the source and it's location" then yes, I was "unaware" Question: do you find value in defining words to be the opposite of their common usage? Because my post demonstrates clear awareness of the situation and only describes it in a meta sense. ;)
- simion314 7y agoThe immigrant was just a small part at the end, did you missed the rest of the articles, let me sum arise it - workers are at risk of accidents but they have no insurance, if you get in accident you will probably lose your job and that is all - workers are tricked using "gamification" to work extra hours or accept bad deliveries - workers have to suffer for other people faults , like some restaurant delays would cause the worker to get penalized - when the weather is bad and the risks of accidents is larger you have more deliveries to do, so the worker will receive a few more cents for a delivery but maybe he doubles his accident risks. IMO that article shows some facts that I did not know about and shows that without regulation to prevent it you will get exploited to injury or death. The article does not seem to promote the perfect solution but mentioned the new law in California and the fact that some giant companies prepared a big found to lobby against this laws.
- gumby 7y agoOdd that the New York Review of Books would write about New York. In my non "top 10 American city" Palo Alto the food delivery people are a mix, with a small proportion being people who speak fluent English with a local accent. Sometimes on bikes, sometimes in cars. Similar to what the article describes.
- criley2 7y ago"Odd that the New York Review of Books would write about New York." Not really, and that's not what I said. I clearly said that the title on Hacker News was misleading because Hacker News isn't the same as NY mag, so their limited title made sense for their limited distribution, but when applied here, became misleading.
- jmull 7y agoWell, HN includes the source site along with the title, so that context isn't really missing. At least it does for me. E.g., the line on the HN page appears as: > What the Apps That Bring Food to Your Door Mean for Delivery Workers (nybooks.com) But in any case, the idea that a headline ought to include all the context is a hopeless one.