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Why I'm proud to be an "unskilled worker" [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-05-26
There’s a popular idea amongst economists and politicians that workers are paid according to their skills. If you’re in an “unskilled job” like fast food or delivery driving, you deserve to be paid little and, by extension, are not worthy of respect.
As an Uber Eats driver who delivers food, I can assure you that driving is a highly-skilled job.
Here’s a resume of skills the job requires.
Drivers must be able to think on their feet and adapt to changing road conditions.
and adapt to changing road conditions. Drivers must manage their time to keep orders going and deliver on time.
to keep orders going and deliver on time. Drivers need strong interpersonal communication and customer service skills .
and . And they have to do everything above at the same time, under pressure, focusing for hours at a time to keep themselves and others safe and follow the law.
Most Congresspeople looking down on us couldn’t do the job. Neither can these conservative talking heads on TV telling the audience that people like me deserve to be paid little. Yet those Congresspeople and pundits get paid far more than me. Are they more “skilled” than me? Are they more useful to society? I don’t think so. I think society’s notion of who’s valuable is all screwed up.
For what it’s worth, I get to drive all over my area and meet the community. I interact with food workers, so-called “unskilled workers” whose job is as difficult as mine but without being able to set their own schedule or work without a manager watching you. I have tremendous respect for them.
Together, the work of us “unskilled workers” supports local businesses and helps people enjoy a nice dinner with their family after a long day of work. That has value, and I’m proud of that.
I’m proud to be an Uber driver.
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