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

[Slacker]

By Austin Murphy.

What It’s Like to Deliver Packages for Amazon - The Atlantic

 

[Moderator1]

I met Austin years ago, didn't think there was any way he'd remember. But he was one of the first to greet me warmly when I started at SI.com and was fabulous to deal with the few times I handled his copy for the web. Good guy, very talented writer.

 

[DanOregon]

I took a seasonal gig for UPS this year. It wasn't bad. Good exercise and everyone is really happy to see you. The downside was that while they told us the job would go through Jan. 15, found out last night that Christmas Eve was it. Apparently the season was "lighter" than usual for UPS.

 

[sgreenwell]

I took a seasonal gig for UPS this year. It wasn't bad. Good exercise and everyone is really happy to see you. The downside was that while they told us the job would go through Jan. 15, found out last night that Christmas Eve was it. Apparently the season was "lighter" than usual for UPS.

That's because y'all offload everything to us at USPS! ;) (Just kidding, but until I started doing some Sunday deliveries part-time for some extra cash, I had no clue that UPS and Fedex both send a ton of stuff to USPS for "last mile" delivery.) Overall, things weren't as bad this year vs. 2017, but the worst days were way worse. One day I was out from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

 

[goalmouth]

Don't know Murphy, but it's not like he needed the job in order to eat. After the 2012 Patch layoffs, I spent three years in unemployed hell into I landed a job at a chocolate factory, which included wrapping chocolate pieces as they came off the line (think I Love Lucy), and de-molding hundreds of chocolate bars, boxing, and packing them for shipment. Ask me about the phoner I had with Jim Harbaugh's agent, about the Har-bar (!) made with his fair-trade Peruvian chocolate.

Murphy complains about bathroom access? My trust fund boss put a handwritten sign on the (only) rest room, "ONE PAPER TOWEL PER PERSON".

 

[Slacker]

Yikes. What does "de-molding chocolate bars" mean, and why do they need it?

 

[WriteThinking]

This was a good read, especially for me, who felt, at the time, like my change of jobs was similarly drastic, in a way that, at the time, both I and others might have seen as, well, not good.

Murphy sounds and writes as if he's realizing something that I did after a while: With a change that drastic, there really can be no comparing. So, your perspective changes, and you start to see it as just different -- not better or worse than what you used to do.

I have to say that the subhead is a little deceiving. Although it is good for telling the angle, and why the article is really being written, the story itself is about the real and especially, the perceived, drop in the status level of Murphy's professions -- not what it's like to work for Amazon, Jeff Bezos, or the current "winning team" in any really direct way.

Indeed, it reads as more about working for the vehicle/delivery company than for Amazon.

And honestly, if where the drivers are going to go to relieve themselves is the biggest problem they face, I'd say that's a positive in terms of the lack of stress and real issues in a job. This is one of the real trade-offs for the lower pay and lower prestige, etc. There can be real value in that. It's all about perspective.

 

[britwrit]

That's because y'all offload everything to us at USPS! ;) (Just kidding, but until I started doing some Sunday deliveries part-time for some extra cash, I had no clue that UPS and Fedex both send a ton of stuff to USPS for "last mile" delivery.) Overall, things weren't as bad this year vs. 2017, but the worst days were way worse. One day I was out from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

That's weird. I've had a 15-hour-a-week gig on the weekends with, uh, a formerly nationalized delivery company over here in Britain for years and years.

For what it's worth, actual physical Christmas cards seem to be making a modest comeback after years on the decrease.

 

[Steak Snabler]

That's weird. I've had a 15-hour-a-week gig on the weekends with, uh, a formerly nationalized delivery company over here in Britain for years and years.

For what it's worth, actual physical Christmas cards seem to be making a modest comeback after years on the decrease.

I think print-at-home capabilities have changed that.

 

[Big Circus]

Yikes. What does "de-molding chocolate bars" mean, and why do they need it?

I think it's getting them out of the mold, not getting (the other kind of) mold off them.

 

[User 149557]

After 15 years at a desk, I've found it reinvigorating to do something with my hands. Doing it for 60+ hours a week wasn't originally in my plans, but I've enjoyed it. It's made me realize that I'll probably do this for a couple cycles over my career. Work a desk job for a set period of time and then do something with my hands for a couple years between.

 

[cjericho]

Don't know Murphy, but it's not like he needed the job in order to eat. After the 2012 Patch layoffs, I spent three years in unemployed hell into I landed a job at a chocolate factory, which included wrapping chocolate pieces as they came off the line (think I Love Lucy), and de-molding hundreds of chocolate bars, boxing, and packing them for shipment. Ask me about the phoner I had with Jim Harbaugh's agent, about the Har-bar (!) made with his fair-trade Peruvian chocolate.

Murphy complains about bathroom access? My trust fund boss put a handwritten sign on the (only) rest room, "ONE PAPER TOWEL PER PERSON".

Don't think anyone asked you, so is Harbaugh's agent a bigger douche than we'd expect?

 

[goalmouth]

Don't think anyone asked you, so is Harbaugh's agent a bigger douche than we'd expect?

Your question makes no sense. He got Harbaugh a $40M deal with Michigan.

 

[TwoGloves]

When I have to go, I always stop at a McDonald's. Don't have to purchase anything and the bathrooms are usually very clean.

 

[Tweener]

Your question makes no sense. He got Harbaugh a $40M deal with Michigan.

How does getting Harbaugh a $40 million deal have anything to do with whether or not he's a douche?

 

[cjericho]

How does getting Harbaugh a $40 million deal have anything to do with whether or not he's a douche?

Exactly.

 

[MTM]

 

[Inky_Wretch]

I’ve missed his writing. I hope he’s cranking out copy again soon.

 

[cjericho]

Your question makes no sense. He got Harbaugh a $40M deal with Michigan.

OK so you brought it up and then you don't expand on it. How about, is Harbaugh's agent as great a guy as we'd all expect?

 

[User 149557]

When I have to go, I always stop at a McDonald's. Don't have to purchase anything and the bathrooms are usually very clean.

That side door is so clutch. It's almost an invitation to dash in and use the restroom.