‘They’re addicted to the convenience': Debating the ethics of using food delivery apps satiates the internet’s appetites more than delivered food ever will

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I remember ordering my first non-pizza delivery the week of March 12, 2020. I was spending spring break with my high school best friend, and we ordered KFC to their apartment in Columbia, Missouri. The bucket of chicken, three sides, and two sodas set us back about $80. When I opened the door, the delivery guy told me that this was his first delivery, I said it was mine too, and we both had a laugh. Before that week, I would’ve never thought to have fast food delivered, but because we were both so freaked out about the uncertain future, I needed the kind of pick-me-up that only Colonel Sanders could provide. Little did I know how many times I would guiltily order fried chicken to my doorstep in the years to come... 

 

 

Because of the relative newness and ubiquity of delivery apps, Twitter users are incredibly divided about them, much more than the general public. The kinds of people who feel strongly about delivery apps fall into two ideological categories: I’ll call them Group A and Group B. 

 

Group A loves to order food over delivery apps, but they’re not always pleased with the service they receive. They’re the kind of people who post about the dangers of male delivery drivers who use female names. They complain about how male grocery delivery drivers often do a poor job selecting items, claiming that an item isn’t available when it is, issuing unnecessary refunds. Group A dislikes criticisms of delivery app customers because they view it as an essential service to many homebound people who can’t access restaurant food otherwise.

 

Group B is less keen on ordering food delivery and is critical of the people who do it all the time. They see it as a waste of money and think Group A should just pick up the food themselves or cook their own food. They call Group A insulting names, claiming they treat delivery drivers like their servants and are way too demanding of overworked and underpaid gig workers. They think Group A treats food delivery as a necessity when, in 99% of cases, it is an overly expensive luxury that customers have convinced themselves is a necessity because they’re addicted to the convenience. 

 

Not everybody fits neatly into these two categories. Most people don’t! I definitely lean more towards Group B, but there was a time when I was ordering Uber Eats at least once a week in college. The difference between me in 2021 and your typical Group A member is that I was pretty embarrassed about doing this. I always felt a pang of guilt when one of my roommates found me on the couch doing my homework at 7 AM with McDonald’s breakfast in hand. I knew it was terrible for my health and my wallet, but I, too, got hooked on the convenience. 

 

There was a time in recent history when excessively eating out was a source of shame for individuals and families, showing that they were bad cooks and bad budgeters. In 90s movies, a person eating Chinese takeout for every meal was a sign that they were in a really bad place in life or they just didn’t care. Now, there’s virtually no shame attached to eating out for every meal. People constantly tell the lie that eating out for every meal is cheaper than grocery shopping, despite that being untrue in literally every American city, no matter how expensive. 

 

I also find it extremely funny when frequent delivery app users bemoan the inflation of the past 4 years but use delivery apps as examples of that inflation. One meal at McDonald’s does not cost $20… but a McDonald’s meal delivered straight to your house in its own private taxi does. If you don’t want to spend $20 on McDonalds, just go to the store yourself and get it.

 

 

See, now I’m “doing” discourse! I’m letting my Group B hang out! I can’t help succumbing to the intoxicating nature of this debate. What makes it so irresistible is the fact that both Groups A and B have strongly held valid concerns. Male delivery drivers using female names is unsafe. Delivery drivers making sub-minimum wage is a disgrace. This silly debate makes the customers and the drivers out to be the bad guys but rarely says anything about the companies themselves, who get completely off the hook in these fruitless arguments. It’s so easy for customers to blame an individual gig worker when the real problem lies with a company that gives little oversight, accountability, or training to their underpaid employees. How are we expecting exceptional service from an employee who needs to fulfill three separate grocery delivery orders an hour in order to barely earn $15? 

 

We live in a culture of convenience that isn't going to change anytime soon because services like this make so much money. The argument that food delivery apps are necessary for sick, homebound people completely falls apart when you realize that they’re the only option, with programs like Meals On Wheels only catering to an elderly demographic. You either buy into your right to convenience at any cost or critique it endlessly, and neither side is ever fully satisfied because the problems with these apps don’t get solved, hence the eternal debate. 

 

It’s a lot easier and more entertaining to snarkily post about Group A members who feel entitled to a private car for their hamburger than it is to commit yourself to advocating for better wages for gig workers. It’s much more satisfying to commiserate about how male delivery drivers are incompetent than it is to drive to the grocery store and pick out your groceries yourself. The problem with this discourse is that there are solutions, but finding the solution isn’t really the point of having the conversation. For most of the participants, this is merely discourse for discourse’s sake

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