Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I Used to Write for Sports Illustrated. Now I Deliver Packages for Amazon (2018)

theatlantic.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

151–160 of 292 posts

Re: I Used to Write for Sports Illustrated. Now I Deliver Packages for Amazon (2018)

#151

Post by tootie »

Larrikin wrote: post #142
skystarman wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And for all the shrieking about Amazon destroying "mom and pop" shops these people never admit that Amazon pays their employees much more, often 2x what the mom and pop's did. Or did you really think mom and pop were paying the teens running their bookstore $17/hr? You think they had great health insurance and other benefits?

I personally think it's ridiculous that people find it amazing that 15 an hour is considered amazing pay for anyone that isn't a teenager working their first job, but Amazon gets high praise for doing it. Most people on here would laugh at a job that pays 600 a week, 2400 a month or 28800 a year before taxes.

15 is there minimum though. Meaning any teenager with a driver's license is getting 15. This guy (a grownup with no delivery experience) was getting 17 plus overtime.

Re: I Used to Write for Sports Illustrated. Now I Deliver Packages for Amazon (2018)

#152

Post by mindslight »

missedthecue wrote: post #93
fortran77 wrote: post #57

I know that many of us here don't like what labor unions have become in the 21st century. But they do need some labor representation that can ensure the trucks used by drivers have working lights, mirrors, and safe tires, and that the company negotiates use of restrooms around the city. Maybe just a "safety only" union that only deals with safety issues?

UPS is union and their employees urinate in bottles. I don't think unions are the magic wand that a lot of people assume they are

While "urinating in bottles" sounds like some sort of standard by which to indict, if you tried it you would find it's quite convenient. I'd guess that it's far down on the list of drivers' actual concerns.

What are you proposing should replace this? Trips back to the depot would be terribly inefficient. Portapotties in trucks would be just fancier bottles. And time to visit public restrooms would be better spent taking an actual break and then still using the bottle.

Re: I Used to Write for Sports Illustrated. Now I Deliver Packages for Amazon (2018)

#153

Post by xupybd »

roninhacker wrote: post #150
gonehome wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plumbing and electrician are the first two that come to mind. Construction would probably be another. Basically “blue collar” jobs that require a lot of expertise. I’d guess some variation and small business risk, but I think many do well.

The reason those don't command respect is because they don't pay well in the main.

An experienced industrial electrician gets more than your average software developer, here in NZ.

Re: I Used to Write for Sports Illustrated. Now I Deliver Packages for Amazon (2018)

#154

Post by tracedddd »

pydry wrote: post #145
gonehome wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt it. Both because Amazon pay is decent, but more so because it’s more about class expectations than it is about pay. Lots of jobs make a lot of money, but are still not considered high status.

Jobs like what? The only ones I can think of are ones which suddenly started paying a lot due to some market quirk (e.g. miners in Australia in the 2010s). Class expectations just take a while to catch up (or never do if the market quirk doesn't persist).

Oil industry workers don’t seem to carry much clout, kind of a dirty job with a lot of physical labor, but pays quite well and has for a while.

Truckers can still make an upper middle class salary, especially if they own their truck or focus on a niche (refrigerated, military deliveries, cross border, etc.)

Re: I Used to Write for Sports Illustrated. Now I Deliver Packages for Amazon (2018)

#155

Post by jhgb »

the_lonely_road wrote: post #9
barry-cotter wrote: post #2

> It’s been healthy for me, a fair-haired Anglo-Saxon with a Roman numeral in my name (John Austin Murphy III) This is what assimilation looks like. Someone with an Irish name calling themselves Anglo-Saxon. It’s like a Hispanic person calling themselves Latinx, proof that they have lost all organic connection to the culture of their ancestors.

Are not all white people Anglo Saxon? I don’t bother to call myself anything other than white, Anglo Saxon, European, Caucasian. It wouldn’t make sense otherwise. I have Irish, English, Italian, and post world war 2 immigrated Polish direct ancestors. I don’t know what else to call myself nor do I particularly care. I don’t have a strong personal sense of identity tied up with any of those things. They are just words…

> Are not all white people Anglo Saxon?

Are not all black people Yoruba? (Well, of course they aren't...)

Re: I Used to Write for Sports Illustrated. Now I Deliver Packages for Amazon (2018)

#156

Post by pydry »

tracedddd wrote: post #154
pydry wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jobs like what? The only ones I can think of are ones which suddenly started paying a lot due to some market quirk (e.g. miners in Australia in the 2010s). Class expectations just take a while to catch up (or never do if the market quirk doesn't persist).

Oil industry workers don’t seem to carry much clout, kind of a dirty job with a lot of physical labor, but pays quite well and has for a while. Truckers can still make an upper middle class salary, especially if they own their truck or focus on a niche (refrigerated, military deliveries, cross border, etc.)

I was actually thinking of underwater welders when I wrote that. Not all oil industry jobs pay well but that one really can, and it carries the cachet to boot. It's definitely manual labor royalty - dangerous, highly skilled and pays up to $300k.

Truckers are not doing so well these days, and where they do make a lot it's typically because of backbreaking labor and/or taking on financial risks. This still only gets you into lower/mid tier software dev wages.

Re: I Used to Write for Sports Illustrated. Now I Deliver Packages for Amazon (2018)

#157

Post by ghaff »

tracer4201 wrote: post #149
ghaff wrote: post #52

Journalism has become such a tough field. I know a number of people who do OK in it. But I know a whole lot more who do writing-related stuff for companies that sell products.

How can we fix that? Many of my family members and friends have little to no interest in reading or learning, although they do have strong opinions on just about every topic. In my mind, demand for journalism and quality journalism is going to be difficult when folks don’t want or don’t care to read. They have enough things trying to grab their attention that provide an instant gratification — whereas journalism or r…

>How can we fix that?

There are a great many people who would like to know the answer to that question but, for the most part, almost no one has. (Almost because there are a few global brands, especially those that provide financial reporting, that are doing OK but most aren't.

There are a lot of reasons, not least of all that the Internet broke the newspaper bundle that forced people advertising in the classifieds for roommates or the local car dealership advertising a sale to effectively subsidize the paper's prestige foreign bureaus and investigative journalism because where else were they going to advertise?

Plus, you don't need a subscription to SI any longer to keep up with whatever is going on in the world of sports.

Re: I Used to Write for Sports Illustrated. Now I Deliver Packages for Amazon (2018)

#158

Post by adamredwoods »

missedthecue wrote: post #93
fortran77 wrote: post #57

I know that many of us here don't like what labor unions have become in the 21st century. But they do need some labor representation that can ensure the trucks used by drivers have working lights, mirrors, and safe tires, and that the company negotiates use of restrooms around the city. Maybe just a "safety only" union that only deals with safety issues?

UPS is union and their employees urinate in bottles. I don't think unions are the magic wand that a lot of people assume they are

Source: https://www.browncafe.com/community/threads/urine-bottles-in...

Apparently, drivers are given plenty of break times and are allowed bathroom breaks, but this behavior continues. I wonder what the economic impact of putting a portable toilet closet in the truck is? Each truck would have 30% less capacity? Would employees get less breaks then?

Re: I Used to Write for Sports Illustrated. Now I Deliver Packages for Amazon (2018)

#159

Post by pydry »

xupybd wrote: post #153
roninhacker wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason those don't command respect is because they don't pay well in the main.

An experienced industrial electrician gets more than your average software developer, here in NZ.

Software devs in NZ are really badly paid.

Re: I Used to Write for Sports Illustrated. Now I Deliver Packages for Amazon (2018)

#160

Post by NikolaNovak »

pydry wrote: post #145
gonehome wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt it. Both because Amazon pay is decent, but more so because it’s more about class expectations than it is about pay. Lots of jobs make a lot of money, but are still not considered high status.

Jobs like what? The only ones I can think of are ones which suddenly started paying a lot due to some market quirk (e.g. miners in Australia in the 2010s). Class expectations just take a while to catch up (or never do if the market quirk doesn't persist).

In Canada at least, any contractor/constructing job.

Plumbers, electricians are educated specialists making very very good hourly wage but won't get same status as say IT manager.

Bonded cleaner with great references can easily be 50 bucks an hour.

Truck drivers, forklift operators have steadily been well compensated and need certified skillset but again don't get same perceived class status.

Note I'm not saying I don't / these jobs shouldn't have respect :). Question was which well paid jobs are seen as different conferring class status despite good pay and this is the general perception I've observed.

Post reply on HN