4 ms·

> There is a large segment of the population that simply cannot do what I do and go pick it up. (See my anecdote below.) They're house-bound or elderly or disab

by kmlx 5y ago

> There is a large segment of the population that simply cannot do what I do and go pick it up. (See my anecdote below.) They're house-bound or elderly or disabled or really just have no practical way to get food without delivery. how big is this segment?

lm28469 5y ago
The real question is how did these people survive until doordash came to exist. If doordash became a public service entity you have bigger problems than fees...
- Jemaclus 5y ago
  I'm pretty sure you're not suggesting that DoorDash, et al, invented the food delivery industry out of whole cloth... The point wasn't that delivery fees exist, but that they seem to be increasing to the point where a municipal government felt the need to step in and do something about it. For those who are housebound or otherwise unable to pick up food from restaurants on their own, these increased fees are a high burden that is inescapable. Granted, they could simply not order food, but that then puts a different kind of burden (i.e., quality of life) on those folks. I'm not suggesting DoorDash, et al, need to change their model, but merely pointing out that this burden affects a certain segment of the population differently than the rest.
Jemaclus 5y ago
I don't know the numbers off the top of my head. I make no guarantees as to the accuracy of this, but according to this article [1], there are approximately 4 million house-bound Americans. This is effectively the lower-bound of the people who would almost certainly have to order delivery in order to eat food from a restaurant. Since they are house-bound, they literally cannot go pick up their food. There are other non-housebound people that would also rely on delivery for restaurant food, such as those without cars or those that are sick or (in the age of COVID) quarantining. I'm not saying that DoorDash needs to change their model or anything to support these people, I'm just pointing out that while the rest of us have choices when it comes to how to get food from a restaurant, this cohort do not have much of a choice at all and therefore the fees from companies like DoorDash affect them quite heavily. It's effectively a housebound tax. [1] https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2014.1008 https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2014....

by kmlx 5y ago

lm28469 5y ago

The real question is how did these people survive until doordash came to exist. If doordash became a public service entity you have bigger problems than fees...

Jemaclus 5y ago
I'm pretty sure you're not suggesting that DoorDash, et al, invented the food delivery industry out of whole cloth... The point wasn't that delivery fees exist, but that they seem to be increasing to the point where a municipal government felt the need to step in and do something about it. For those who are housebound or otherwise unable to pick up food from restaurants on their own, these increased fees are a high burden that is inescapable. Granted, they could simply not order food, but that then puts a different kind of burden (i.e., quality of life) on those folks. I'm not suggesting DoorDash, et al, need to change their model, but merely pointing out that this burden affects a certain segment of the population differently than the rest.

Jemaclus 5y ago

I don't know the numbers off the top of my head. I make no guarantees as to the accuracy of this, but according to this article [1], there are approximately 4 million house-bound Americans. This is effectively the lower-bound of the people who would almost certainly have to order delivery in order to eat food from a restaurant. Since they are house-bound, they literally cannot go pick up their food. There are other non-housebound people that would also rely on delivery for restaurant food, such as those without cars or those that are sick or (in the age of COVID) quarantining. I'm not saying that DoorDash needs to change their model or anything to support these people, I'm just pointing out that while the rest of us have choices when it comes to how to get food from a restaurant, this cohort do not have much of a choice at all and therefore the fees from companies like DoorDash affect them quite heavily. It's effectively a housebound tax. [1] https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2014.1008 https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2014....