- Parrott and Reich penned a five-point rebuttal to the Cornell study, spelling out the differences between the two reports. They said the Cornell researchers didn't add in all of the drivers' expenses, including vehicle cleaning, smartphone bills and car insurance. They also noted the Cornell study included tips in its earnings calculations, which isn't allowed under state and local laws. In addition, they said the Cornell research for the most part only took into account the time drivers were on a ride. Time spent waiting for rides, which can be as much as 50%, wasn't always factored in.
"If drivers are really being paid that well," Reich said, "there should be a lot more people wanting to be drivers."
There's a real dearth of rideshare in Seattle as compared to Los Angeles. It's almost as if it's a shittier value proposition.
So I was talking to a friend of mine recently, we're both commiserating about how quality employment for low wage workers is pretty much a thing of the past. They told me a horror story of a conversation they had with their boss recently because they weren't getting enough hours and they were basically being forced to plead for what amounts to scraps as far as shifts on the schedule were concerned. Their boss straight up told them that they weren't going to get any more hours and if they wanted to find another job or a second job, more power to them. But since no one is really hiring right now, if they needed income, something like Uber or Grub Hub or Shipt was really their best bet at shoring up their income. They were warned though, that if they got a second job or started an Uber hustle and it started to conflict with their hours at that job? They can pretty much kiss it goodbye. It's like reality is becoming a parody of itself. Honestly, I don't know how people in large cities like L.A., New York, Chicago, etc. get by "working for" Uber and such. Even less so for smaller cities where there are probably more workers than demand. Cost of living and inadequate pay aside, what I can't possibly begin to imagine is the damage done to a person's heart and soul and sense of self, having to answer to notifications on a device, kept in their pocket, trying to game a system that's designed to defeat them, in order to survive. Don't go looking for dignity in all of this, it isn't there. It's been stolen from us and the people behind these companies know that they need to make life hard for us, because the more time we spend fighting just to get by, the less time we spend fighting to try and regain what we've lost, piece by piece, to companies that care more about bottom lines and shareholder value than they do about their roles in contributing to a healthy, functioning society.
I have it so good. I know it. I've managed to negotiate my way into a truly charmed life by seeing the grift and taking it every time. I was telling a friend yesterday that definitely the future and largely the present belongs to those who best know how to fill out forms; he's a Southern California resident who has managed to make it into his 50s without needing to really know how to negotiate unemployment or medicaid or scholarships or anything which is fine, but he's raised three children who also lack those skills. And now they're like Pomeranians having to learn how to hunt rats. I rode with Seattle Lyft drivers back when the economy was good. They were skin-of-their-teeth. Most of them were full-time Lyft and they had hustle. The job ends up being like golf caddy; you need to know how to work your passenger in order to get the best tips. Nowadays? I mean, I haven't been in a Lyft since February. I don't know what it's like out there. Probably not better. The media (and most of the rest of us) underestimated the discomfort of white racists in 2016. I think we're grossly underestimating the calamity faced by everyone else this year. You certainly begin to see the rationale for making voting hard for everyone that isn't rich old white people.