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Fear mongering? Are service workers not dying for your convenience? Are they not working despite lacking PPE or hazard pay or the economic privilege of having

Fear mongering? Are service workers not dying for your convenience? Are they not working despite lacking PPE or hazard pay or the economic privilege of having the option to quit and/or work from home, as so many HN readers do? If you don't think it's actually this bad, I recommend that you sign up for a part-time gig working at a grocery store and see how fun it is.

40four 7y ago
I will give the parent the benefit of the doubt and assume they think it's fear mongering because of the style and sensationalism of the article (and others this month), not that they are heartless and don't care about the well being of these workers. I don't think it's productive to take that line. Of course its horrible, I assume we all hate to hear this. I think about how bad it must suck to work at a grocery store every time I go and see the people there working. The issue I think is when an article puts things like "It's a War Zone", or "As more of them die" in the headline for example. It is true it must be very risky and stressful to work there right now. Hard to imagine. But there isn't much actual analysis of the numbers. 'At least' 41 are dead? How did they calculate that number? Is that a lot? More than we would expect for a give occupation? I don't know, they don't really explain, it's just a bunch of super sad stories and interview quotes.
- shirakawasuna 7y ago
  That's a bit too generous. Their primary concern when reading the article was, "too much fear mongering". I don't assume they were malicious so much as detached and overlooking things that they shouldn't. "It's a War Zone" is incorrect, but "As more of them die" is not. The former is a dumb metaphor, the latter is just a correct description. Given worker conditions, it is plain that they are being put at unnecessary risks and that these risks are fundamentally exploitative - folks have to either put their lives at risk for corporate profits (no PPE provided, frequently) or potentially become homeless, lose their insurance during a pandemic, etc. Estimating the numbers is something to go do, sure, but it doesn't change the dangerous material conditions on the ground and the dark nature of our response. Look at who bears the burden and why they do it.
  - 40four 7y ago
    It has to be incredibly stressful. I wonder what's going through workers heads every time I see them while I shop. As you said, many are between a rock and a hard place. The high school/ college kids still living at home not as much. But the adults, and the many retirement age people you see working at grocery stores don't have that luxury. Keep going into a risky work environment and scraping by, or quit and try to wait your turn in the infinite unemployment line. Depending on location, who knows how long it would be before benefits are paid. Very sad...

40four 7y ago

I will give the parent the benefit of the doubt and assume they think it's fear mongering because of the style and sensationalism of the article (and others this month), not that they are heartless and don't care about the well being of these workers. I don't think it's productive to take that line. Of course its horrible, I assume we all hate to hear this. I think about how bad it must suck to work at a grocery store every time I go and see the people there working. The issue I think is when an article puts things like "It's a War Zone", or "As more of them die" in the headline for example. It is true it must be very risky and stressful to work there right now. Hard to imagine. But there isn't much actual analysis of the numbers. 'At least' 41 are dead? How did they calculate that number? Is that a lot? More than we would expect for a give occupation? I don't know, they don't really explain, it's just a bunch of super sad stories and interview quotes.

shirakawasuna 7y ago
That's a bit too generous. Their primary concern when reading the article was, "too much fear mongering". I don't assume they were malicious so much as detached and overlooking things that they shouldn't. "It's a War Zone" is incorrect, but "As more of them die" is not. The former is a dumb metaphor, the latter is just a correct description. Given worker conditions, it is plain that they are being put at unnecessary risks and that these risks are fundamentally exploitative - folks have to either put their lives at risk for corporate profits (no PPE provided, frequently) or potentially become homeless, lose their insurance during a pandemic, etc. Estimating the numbers is something to go do, sure, but it doesn't change the dangerous material conditions on the ground and the dark nature of our response. Look at who bears the burden and why they do it.
- 40four 7y ago
  It has to be incredibly stressful. I wonder what's going through workers heads every time I see them while I shop. As you said, many are between a rock and a hard place. The high school/ college kids still living at home not as much. But the adults, and the many retirement age people you see working at grocery stores don't have that luxury. Keep going into a risky work environment and scraping by, or quit and try to wait your turn in the infinite unemployment line. Depending on location, who knows how long it would be before benefits are paid. Very sad...