Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit | uedue828e's comments login

There isn't a single food delivery or ride hailing service in the world that is very very hard to avoid.


In the middle of a pandemic, that's simply not true.

Otherwise, sure, you just go get the food yourself in your ca--oh wait, ride hailing. In a taxi? On a bike? Within walking distance? But yes, just go to the restaurant, unless there's a global pandemic that requires many people to not leave their homes.


Did take out or kitchens stop existing in your world? Do you really think grubhub or uber is even a rounding error in terms of how the majority of people get their food? There's being out of touch but your comment is a whole new level of reality disconnect. And your comment doesn't even make sense internally. You can't avoid ridesharing but you can't leave your house? LOL okay.


Please, calm down, and keep the personal insults in check.

I have eaten food that was not cooked in my home no more than six times since February. All but one of those times were takeout. I'm well aware of how both kitchens and takeout work. I'm very privileged in that sense.

However, I was practicing empathy. Many people do not have the options I do, and I'm not sure mockery is the best way to think about them.

You mentioned both delivery and ride hailing in your initial comment, so I made the starting assumption that you were talking about someone who doesn't have a car. If you don't live within walking distance of a restaurant offering takeout, and you don't have a car, how do you get takeout?

In the suburbs where more than half of Americans live, access to restaurants within walking distance isn't ubiquitous. Many restaurants in my state remain closed, including in my case, both of the restaurants within walking distance.

So, much of America cannot eat out, and some percentage don't have cars or can't drive due to injury or fear of the pandemic. That leaves cooking at home, yes, from groceries they've had delivered or taken public transit (quite the disease vector) or via ride hailing. And it leaves food delivery.

GrubHub reported 22.6 million "active diners" in Q4 2019. That's a small number compared to everybody in America who eats, but it's not a tiny number. And GrubHub isn't the only food delivery company.

My bottom line is that it may be easy for you or I to avoid food delivery or ride hailing services, but that is simply not true for everyone, and it's not even a value shared by everyone.

If you want food delivery, and many people clearly do, it can be very hard to avoid GrubHub and Doordash due to their slimy and unethical practices. If you don't want food delivery, then clearly this issue has nothing whatsoever to do with you.


Join us for AI Startup School this June 16-17 in San Francisco!

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: