Usually, the manager or owner did this in front of me, physically going through the printed-out receipts, adding up the tips, and then paying them out from the register as a lump sum. In-app tips would be counted up either at the end of the night or at the end of each delivery run, and then paid out in cash. The shifts were all four to six hours long, and the restaurants directly paid me a base shift rate of $20 to $40 in cash, which was supplemented by cash and in-app tips. In my first week on Mike's list, I snagged one weekly shift at a gourmet pizza joint and a few subs at a handful of different places. I never learned his last name, and I'd been working for him for two weeks before I met him in person. Mike coordinated delivery for several North Brooklyn restaurateurs, who all paid him in cash. If you replied first, the shift was yours.

'Cool,' Mike responded, 'I'll put you on my list.' Mike texted all of his riders whenever a shift became available. The buddy told me to text a guy named Mike and tell him I was looking for delivery work. When I moved to New York City in the summer of 2014 without a job or a plan, my roommate suggested that I talk to a cycling buddy of his. In many cases, the 'moms' bringing food to the customer's front door aren't officially employed by the restaurant, or by anyone.ĭelivery work is most lucrative when it is dangerous and unpleasant one rider told me he made $300 during a freak November blizzard. But who exactly is 'us'? Seamless receives a commission from restaurants for every order placed on their platform, but it's up to the restaurants to coordinate delivery.

The role of your mom will be played by us,' reads one of the ads in the company's current subway campaign. To the customer on the receiving end of a Seamless delivery, the informal network of labor that makes the app possible is not necessarily visible. As a member of the shadowy hoard of riders delivering North Brooklyn's Seamless orders, I was beholden to no one. No one seemed particularly concerned, though, as long as I showed up for my shifts on time.

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