Gig economy jobs — such as Uber/Lyft, Postmates, Instacart, etcetera, etcetera — are often thankless jobs with long hours and abysmal gratuity. Actor, rapper, and all-around entertaining Twitter user Ice T pointed one of the lesser considered perils of gig economy after an Amazon Flex delivery almost gone awry on Tuesday. For those unfamiliar, Amazon Flex is a service that allows people to make money on the side by delivering Amazon packages using their own vehicles, dressed in plainclothes.
But that’s also where the problem comes in, as Ice T so eloquently explains.
“Message To Amazon: Now that you have regular people making your home deliveries .. Maybe they should wear a Vest with AMAZON DELIVERY on it,” the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star tweeted. “I almost shot a MF creeping up to my crib last night…. Just sayin.”
Message To Amazon: Now that you have regular people making your home deliveries.. Maybe they should wear a Vest with AMAZON DELIVERY on it….. I almost shot a MF creeping up to my crib last night…. Just sayin.
— ICE T (@FINALLEVEL) May 21, 2019
Thankfully, no drivers were harmed in the delivery of Ice T’s … I dunno, coffee maker or whatever … But you have to admit the man makes an excellent point. One of these days, some hapless man or woman just trying to make a few extra bucks is gonna get a cap in his or her ass, and others on Twitter tended to agree with him.
https://twitter.com/johnsemley3000/status/1131172377390452738
Just saying; how cool would it be around the Amazon water cooler telling everybody how Ice T busted a cap in yo ass…
— Bananafish (@BigBananafish) May 21, 2019
AGREED! pic.twitter.com/2WON1H0Yux
— ♥️Lizzie♥️ (@lizziehairtimes) May 21, 2019
Definitely…. And flex is always in street wear
— Actor Robert Benn (@Benn1Actor) May 22, 2019
I can't wait for this to come up on Amazon's next analyst call… https://t.co/0r0rpjM5BJ
— Matthew Boyle (@bizboyle) May 22, 2019
On top of having no health insurance, low wages and all the terrible ways the gig economy threatens worker's quality of life add potentially getting shot by Ice T. https://t.co/0kIB5bE2UP
— Theodore Moore (@MooreProgress) May 22, 2019
https://twitter.com/flyosity/status/1130893180910604288
Amazon tried to intervene, but people were not having it:
The feedback is if you don't want a MFer shot, he should have something on that says AMAZON on it
— Carrie Garner (@CarrieLGarner) May 21, 2019
I see that you're trying, but clearly @AmazonHelp lacks common sense in ensuring driver safety. They won't do anything about it until an employee is injured and the family threatens to sue.
— Raini☔🍉 (@Cloudi_wave) May 21, 2019
I think @FINALLEVEL was quite clear with the details.. pic.twitter.com/clFKO0Adek
— merced🌺 (@Merced_0411) May 22, 2019
Im glad that even Ice T gets the same automated response as the rest of us lol https://t.co/OJyM5jcaO4
— Valerie🐍 (@MorriganFrey) May 22, 2019
They’re not wrong. If Lyft can have those fancy light-up dashboard thingies, the least Amazon Flex can do is give these people a dang vest.