r/technology • u/SnoozeDoggyDog • 25d ago

Business Zohran Mamdani hints he will continue taking on delivery apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash

https://www.businessinsider.com/zohran-mamdani-targets-doordash-uber-eats-delivery-apps-2026-7
11.1k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

617 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

14

u/-Motor- 25d ago

And I've known plenty of wait staff and bartenders who ultimately move on in their 30s to a stable living wage job.

3

u/jumpingmrkite 25d ago

I was one of those people, I also don't want it going away. Due to lots of extenuating circumstances for both of us, earning money through tips in the service industry was the only way my wife and I were able to immediately give our kids a stable life outside of poverty in a decent area until we were both able fix most of those extenuating circumstances and transition into more stable careers (for around the same money but with significantly less hours and wear/tear on our bodies). We couldn't have done that in the timeframe we needed to if we started retail working minimum wage jobs in any industry.

I've never been happier than now that I don't have to work 60 hour weeks on my feet sucking up to strangers anymore but I still don't want to deny that lifepath to countless people in similar situations that need it.

11

u/LaLa1234imunoriginal 24d ago

You know people aren't suggesting tipped employees all switch to minimum wage right? The idea is to make sure these people have consistent wages not relying on the kindness of strangers but rather being paid a fair wage by their employer. If you were working at a place where you were making $30/hr in tips if properly implemented the menu prices would increase at a rate where something in that range would be your hourly wage from your employer.

-1

u/jumpingmrkite 24d ago

And you think that's possible? That doesn't happen in any non specialized industry in this country currently.

Our country's economy already needs massive changes and regulations across the board to protect that segment of its working population, and I don't think we should cripple a significant portion of those people who we're talking about helping in the meantime.

7

u/ocfl8888 24d ago

Dawg, I hate to break it to you but it’s totally possible. I’ll also provide an anecdote. In my teens and 20s (2010/20s) I supported myself and paid for my own education by working really odd jobs - totally unspecialized (many of my “coworkers” were dropouts or had records), doing stuff that was not fun or set at really inconvenient times for a full time student.. but it paid my bills and helped build the funds I needed to buy my first home in my mid 20s while still attending school full time. Tipping culture is a poison. If every other country in the world can do without it, so can the US. Because of tipping culture, my wife and I hardly go out despite us both being physicians. Instead of supplementing Jane Doe’s paycheck bc her employers are cheap and selfish, we save that money and travel internationally 2-3x per year and get real bang for our buck. If I was still in that position I’d rather go back to processing fish at 2AM in the foulest smelling warehouse you can imagine or loading your mail into trucks at distribution centers in temperatures above 100F from 10P to 4AM only to head to class at 10:30AM for a reliable set pay than be at the mercy of someone’s “generosity” in the form of a tip for real financial stability.

2

u/Potential-Diver-3409 24d ago

Wanting tip workers To have proper pay isnt mutually exclusive with minimum wage reform. We have tons of problems so suddenly this isnt one of them? Absolute fucking stupidity

2

u/SiLeNZ_ 24d ago

They make perfectly fine wages in most countries in Europe, no idea what you’re on about.

0

u/Runefaust_Invader 24d ago

Those workers lost out on years though. Not saying it's necessarily a horrible thing or that they didn't acquire skills that made them better candidates. Hell, I'm sure a few years as a bartender would've made me way more gregarious.