外刊 | The reality of being a Deliveroo rider over 50
The reality of being a Deliveroo rider over 50
从这篇文章窥见零工经济时代的英国
Chris says the long hours, lack of a pension or holiday pay and occasional violence from the public impacts his mental health
1. 英国就业及养老金大臣Stride建议50岁以上去送外卖
The work and pensions secretary Mel Stride caused controversy on Thursday by suggesting over-50s should take up food delivery work, after Deliveroo recorded a 62% increase in couriers over 50 since 2021.
2. Stride说灵活就业提供了非常好的机会
Stride, on a visit to the firm’s London headquarters, said flexible jobs offered “great opportunities” and that it was “good for people to consider options they might not have otherwise thought of” in an interview with the Times.
3. 英国工会联盟（TUC）批评Stride赞美零工经济
After the controversy – which saw the TUC accuse Stride of “glorifying the gig economy” – the Guardian spoke to Chris, a 57-year-old courier based in London.
这里的“A see B do sth”，用比喻手法表示A导致B结果。这种用法很常见，
比如：
①"His policies saw a rise in unemployment"（他的政策导致失业率上升）；
②"The controversy saw discussions about freedom of speech and censorship."（争议引发了关于言论自由和审查制度的讨论）；
③"Economic instability can see a rise in unemployment."（经济动荡可能导致失业率上升）。
4. 待机无薪
“I started riding for Deliveroo in 2019 after a contract ended. I’m just constantly tired. Mel Stride made it sound like you can just log on and find an order, but there’s so much waiting around that you don’t get paid for.
Often I’m waiting on my bike an hour for an order. I’ll be stting there next to 17 other riders. It's like a waiter or waitress only being paid when they deliver food to the table." he said.
log on 登录
5. 入不敷出且无社会保障
“My mum’s 82 and doesn’t live in London. I don’t get to visit her enough because even missing one day of work hits my income. Yesterday I made £15.75 in three hours at lunchtime. I don’t earn enough for the hours I work. I live in social housing and my rent is £150 a week.
Currently I’m behind on that and my council tax. I know that Marks & Spencer puts reduced stickers on food at 5.30pm and Co-op at 6.30pm so I try to go then. It’s just a constant struggle. We get no national insurance contributions, no pension, no holiday pay.
hit 影响
be behind on 拖欠
council tax 市政税
national insurance contributions（NICs） 英国社会保险费
6. 疲惫的劳作
“I’m 57, I’m just shattered. When I first started, I’d feel it in the legs and hips and shoulders. Those boxes are heavy. But now it’s just my whole body. At the end of the day you just slump down. Sometimes I just go to the pub on my own, and I just think: ‘Please no one talk to me.’
shattered 疲惫不堪的
slump down 瘫倒在地
pub 酒吧
7. 自尊受挫
“That’s the real toll of the job – its impact on your mental health. I’m usually an exuberant and confident person. But I just feel worthless. It’s hard to hold your head high. Most customers are fine, but a significant minority treat you like a personal servant.
They don’t even look at you when they take their food. It has an impact on your esteem – I’ve lost respect for myself, I assume people must think: ‘Look at that old git doing Deliveroo.’
toll 代价
exuberant 活跃的
git饭桶
8. 送餐也要小心
“On one delivery, in 2019, I arrived at a block of flats in London. The guy at the door said: ‘I’m fucking sick of you lot.’ Maybe he’d been waiting a while. He started walking towards me, so I started filming. Then he hit me in the face and knocked my phone out of my hand.
I told the company not to send me back there. But a few weeks later I recognised his address on an order. I gave it back to the restaurant. It’s made me wary of deliveries – sometimes drop-offs feel tense.
be wary of 提防，警惕
drop-off 送（餐）
9. 回到维多利亚时代
“Mel Stride’s comments were so naive. It’s like Norman Tebbit’s ‘get on your bike’ again. Believe me, I’m on my bike. Six or seven days a week. He’s advocating for a return to Victorian working practices, with workers queueing up hoping they’ll be picked.
I’m retraining to be a HGV driver, hopefully getting my test in the autumn, so that’s my light at the end of the tunnel.
Victorian working practices是指维多利亚时代工人面临长工时、低工资、无劳工权益等的艰苦工作条件
HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) 载重车辆
the light at the end of the tunnel 表示在长期的困境中看到解脱的希望。
10. 苦中作乐
“There are parts of the job I enjoy. I like riding my bike, especially along the river, and it’s great to have the freedom of no boss breathing down my neck. Sometimes I’ll stop for 10 minutes and just look over the London skyline. But when I stand there, I’m usually thinking: ‘When’s my next order going to be?’”
欢迎指正，感谢阅读。
