The things written are all light and ethereal. Teachers at Linyi University experience delivering takeout: there is no real pain in life
Xing Bin, born in 1976, is a lecturer at the School of Literature at Linyi University. His main courses include modern Chinese literature and contemporary Chinese literature. At a recent sharing event at Dongyi Academy in Linyi, Xing Bin shared his personal experience of being a delivery rider in Linyi last winter, which immediately attracted attention.
Lecturer Xing Bin from the School of Literature at Linyi University
Xing Bin said that he has his own job and can only do amateur crowdsourcing. These days, I work from early to late on holidays. I run for two hours in the morning on weekdays, and then run to one or two o'clock, or two or three o'clock at night after dinner. I give more money at night, and the places where I can earn money are remote. In the middle of the night, I have run to the village east of Xianggong Town, to Fangcheng, to Lanling Village, and to Yinan Mountain, all on rural roads, all by motorcycle. It is too dark and the lights are not far, sometimes I ride to the ditch. As soon as I pass Changchun Road, there are big trucks passing by at night, and I feel scared. After delivering the goods and riding the bike back, I feel numb and cold. Once I was too cold, so I parked my car in the field and ran around for a while. I looked at the map of Gaode, which was nine kilometers north of Linyi University. It was still a long way to go home
According to his statistics, he delivered over 2000 orders in a month, contacted hundreds of merchants, and knocked on over 2000 doors. On average, riding a motorcycle for 210 kilometers, walking 32000 steps, and climbing 110 floors every day. Overall, earning 10 yuan per hour is the norm, and earning 20 yuan per hour is the limit.
Specifically, the average cost per order is 3.5 yuan, and it takes 2+3 kilometers to pick up and deliver goods. The average waiting time for pickup is 5 minutes, cycling takes 8 minutes, and delivering goods to the residential area takes an average of 7 minutes, totaling 20 minutes. Three orders per hour, 10.5 yuan. Sending 3 orders at once, arranging them in order, can save 1/3 of the time, but will be rushed. You can get 4-5 orders in one hour for 15.75 yuan. 5 orders can be delivered at once, which is suitable for the centralized delivery time of lunch and dinner. It is difficult to arrange the order properly without being urged. Basically, it's the limit value. Slightly increase the income per unit time, still give 5-6 orders per hour for 19.25 yuan.
"I'm not interested in investigating, I just want to experience it," Xing Bin mentioned during the sharing.
The bills recorded during Xing Bin's experience as a delivery man
In this experience, Xing Bin said that his main focus is on the situation of the "identity" of a food delivery worker, and how people feel, cope with, and reflect on these experiences during the work process. Physical suffering is one aspect, although it has been a long time since this experience; The main thing is still being insulted by others.
According to his recollection, almost no one looked directly at delivery drivers, merchants, customers, especially security guards. "Even acquaintances don't know what I've been doing lately, only the security guards in our community know. They see me leaving early and returning late at night every day, and don't let me in. I say I'm the owner, and they ride bikes with me downstairs to see me go upstairs. They say you can buy a house here even if you deliver takeout. They're a person. Many customers look at me like they're begging for food. I used to hate these people, but I gradually forget about them."
He was more willing to recall the warm moment, "This month, I sent more than 2000 orders, and three people sincerely thanked me. One was a woman from the Gucheng community in the relocation community. She said that the child wanted to eat Wonton in the middle of the night, and it was so cold that she thanked me for sending it. Later, I found that she gave me another 2 yuan as a reward. Another one, also a woman, was from the village in the northeast of Xianggong Town. They were afraid that I could not find my way in the middle of the night, so they took me to the intersection with a flashlight. Another couple, the elderly living in the fifth building of the People's Hospital, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease center, sent their food to the elderly. I bought some, then I bought another one and sent it to them. They both returned the money for the second meal to me and gave me a reward of 10 yuan."
In his personal experience and observation, Xing Bin noticed several issues.
"This order was completed very well and perfectly. During the delivery process, the software prompted that the previous order was not clicked on for delivery. You had to stop clicking. The next day, you will be fined: click on delivery from another location, or click on delivery for a long time. You can complain that there was no timeout, and the delivery was already clicked on at that time, which is a problem that the software popped up again. The complaint is invalid. There is still one chance to appeal. If you appeal again, it will be replied in seconds, but it is invalid. You are lucky to be able to contact the customer service hotline within an hour. If you can contact them, the same reply will be given."
Xing Bin said that he encounters such situations twice a month, and the procedures are exactly the same. The three appeals opportunities are of no use, they are just decorations. "Finally, I told the human customer service that you can directly contact the customer to see what the real situation is. It's useless, but the money is still deducted. Moreover, the deducted money is not returned to the customer, and it's all in the delivery company's headquarters' pocket."
During the month of delivering food, Xing Bin met three female delivery drivers and several elderly delivery riders. In Xing Bin's view, "They can't bear the intense labor of 14 hours a day and no rest throughout the year. I estimate they can earn three to four thousand yuan per month. After the Spring Festival, I left the delivery team, but on the way, I still noticed their presence first. In recent months, I have seen more and more women and elderly riders racing against time. No matter how dangerous, hard, or tired they may be, they can't do without this income of three to four thousand yuan. The children at home, the elderly in the hospital bed, and the mortgage repayment messages sent by the bank are all reminding them to run, run faster!"
In Xing Bin's view, these food delivery companies are very special. All of its designs, with the support of big data and artificial intelligence, have become more precise and accurate. It can "happen" to obtain an appropriate amount of workers, and "happen" to enable riders to maintain the most basic life, allowing them to accumulate some micro capital that cannot rest and rely on money to support themselves.
In an interview with Beijing Youth Daily, Xing Bin said, "What I did was just a small matter. I haven't told my parents or told the students. This time, it was Mr. Wang Zhaojun, the host of the lecture, who invited me, that I decided to share this experience with everyone."
"I think as a literary worker, if you don't feel the pain of life, everything you write will be light and airy." Xing Bin introduced that after this experience, he understood the delivery drivers better and knew how hard it was for them to earn money. "In the past, when I was writing, I saw that delivery drivers might answer calls later. Now, I will definitely answer them as soon as possible because I know they may be on the phone while riding a bike, which is very dangerous. I also hope that society can better understand the difficulties faced by delivery drivers, have more empathy with them, and make this society a better place."
