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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 March 2024
Mike’s story
“It’s a great job but terrible work,” said Mike. He worked for an online delivery service.
Mike loved his bike, loved cycling. If he wasn’t out cycling, then he was repairing and tweaking his bike ensuring a smooth high performance ride every time he went out onto the city streets or beyond its boundaries and along country tracks. He knew that he needed work. He had to eat and his bike cost money to run. Working for an online platform delivery company was therefore a logical choice. It would allow him to earn money while cycling around the city. A perfect match.
At first it was fun. He soon found that there was a sort of workplace. Other cyclists, all early 20-something men like him, hung out at a central location in the city seated around a statue to some old king or other, waiting for the app to ping to provide them with the info for the next pickup and delivery. The camaraderie between them was energizing. They shared maintenance tips and tails of near mishaps and crashes. One guy had spilled off his bike while on a pizza delivery. Took a corner too fast and too tight in order to meet the designated time, skidded and then found himself painfully lying on the pavement. He contacted the delivery company through the app. Their concern was immediate: was the pizza okay? That brought a laugh, but the graze on his knee still hadn’t quite healed.
As the weeks went by, the job wasn’t what Mike hoped it to be. It was either frenetically hectic and full on or nothing at all. There was a lot of waiting. Too much waiting. Not all days were busy, sometimes Saturdays could be unexpectedly quiet. Sure, he could chat and banter with the other delivery cyclists. But it meant he wasn’t on his bike. That was frustrating. Especially in the summer when it was dry, with long light nights, a time when he’d otherwise be out cycling.
Then again, when it was busy that could be frustrating too. Some nights it was constant, no time to stop or catch your breath. To help offset the pain in his knees he experienced at peak times, Mike loaded up as much as he could on painkillers and anti-inflammatory medication. The pain in his knees aside he felt fine.
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