We're all doing the best we can.

2/23/2025

Surviving the trump administration, A Daily Thread. Episode 32: We’re all doing the best we can.

Since last summer, I’ve been Door Dashing on the side to make some extra cash. I started because my stepson got a referral offer that meant $900 extra for him and $600 for me – and it only took me 150 hours of work and 1800 miles on my car to hit the goal! (Yes, I kept a spreadsheet to track my progress.) And I have continued because it’s a relatively low stress and extremely simple way to make a few extra bucks in my free time.

It’s been humbling to experience the whim of this endeavor – if people don’t tip, I end up earning $12 an hour or even less, while also putting gas in my tank and miles on my car. But Door Dash (and, I realize, capitalist businesses in general) can operate this way because there are plenty of people who need money and – for reasons from language barriers to low social skills to lack of education to lack of job availability in general, aren’t able to choose something better. I’m very grateful I’m not reliant on Door Dashing as a main source of income.

This photo is my current customer rating. I received a 1-star rating from one of my recent orders – the app does not tell me which order or exactly when it happened, and they don’t offer a way for me to dispute it. They will take away my ability to obtain Platinum status if I fall below a 4.7 overall rating (Platinum status requires you to deliver 100 orders per month and in return offers you higher-paying orders). And they can deactivate my account if I ever fall below 4.2 overall.

I honestly have no idea why someone felt the need to leave me a 1-star rating (or, for that matter, the 2- and 3-star ratings). I don’t rip the bags or dump the drinks on the doormats or steal people’s fries or kick their dogs. If I’m late, it’s because of delays at the restaurant, or traffic, or weather conditions – not because I decided to stop and take a stroll through the park before making a delivery.

This experience, though, is making me think more deeply about ways I might consciously or unconsciously take out personal frustrations on other humans – and realize that even if someone who is providing a service to me does a job that I view as “less than stellar,” I should think long and hard before I take any kind of action that could have a negative effect on them. Is it really worth complaining to a manager, or leaving a nasty review or bad rating, if doing so could cost a person their job? No. I mean, unless the reason was sexual harassment or racism or something equally egregious, my annoyance is not worth someone’s livelihood.

We’re all doing the best we can.