This post has literally inspired me to order a pizza for my lunch today rather than open the fridge.

congratulations!

There are delivery apps the delivery Fee is lower based on how near the restaurant is.

Pizza shop is 4 minutes away

Orders delivery

Joke’s on OP

Ordering a personal taxi for your food instead of walking a few blocks is peak American.

To be fair, typically in America (outside of major cities and certain planned neighborhoods), 4 minutes away implies by car. Even if driving only 20mph (unlikely), the pizza shop would be a minimum 1.3 miles away, which would be more like a 30+ minute walk for a pizza.

On top of that, there's almost no safe walking paths by design. You would likely have to traverse major roads with no sidewalks, crosswalks, or even pedestrian stop lights.

It's an unfortunate design that many are stuck with.

Unironically, yes.

It doesn't occur to most Americans to walk a bit instead of drive.

This is exacerbated by the design of American neighborhoods that discourages walking and encourages driving, which of course becomes a feedback loop where Americans don't walk because their neighborhoods aren't designed for it - or worse - designed against it, and so our neighborhoods are designed for people who don't walk, etc.

don't worry. tons of folks who live in the inner city where it's easily walkable still get delivery from the place 4 blocks away.

or better let, like my neighbors, they get a single coffee delivered from the coffee shop 2 blocks away. because they want to 'spoil' themselves. then they complain about how they can't afford rent and the COL is so high and they are so poor.

and they tell me I'm an privileged ableist asshole when i suggest maybe they could walk to the coffee shop like i do.

because you know, not being a stupid lazy idiot who is terrible with money is a form of ableism, or something now.

btw this is the same neighbor who works a 5 minute walk away, but drives to their workplace everyday and complains about the cost of gas.

also their parents have $100K cars... and they used to mouth off about difficult their life was growing up compared to mine... right.

This reeks of "millenials and their avocado toast" energy

Yeah, man. The people surviving the horrors are definitely fully to blame for their survival choices related to said horrors, and not the fuckers responsible for said horrors. You got a good eye on you. You're middle management material if I've ever seen it

/s

Your anecdote doesn't change anything I said, nor my opinion.

If anything you biased me against what you're trying to push with your lazy writing style, which is ironic given you criticize what you see as laziness in others.

What lazy? With autocorrect it actually takes loads of effort to get rid of capitalisation.

I'm not commenting on the content of the person's comments, but in terms of writing style I've always shared this person's aversion to capitalisation letters in (my own) casual communications. I don't know why, it's weird. Especially "I" as a personal pronoun. Who tf do I think I am? "i" will suffice for ones modest self.

because they are mad at me for what i said, and don't have a legit reason to be so, so they make up stupid shit about capitalization and writing style.

when you can't attack the content of what was said, you go after the style.

It's just widely-agreed-upon conventions to make the text more readable.

Injecting your personal feelings about how English should be written into everything you write is way more selfish than capitalizing "I."

Injecting your personal feelings about how English should be written into everything you write is way more selfish than capitalizing “I.”

right, so why are you doing that then? almost like you are directly contradicting yourself here... hmm

maybe because you're one of these folks and you are angry at being called out?

let me do you one better, I'll argue about how I'm the truly lazy and privileged one, because i walk tot he coffee shop, and therefore i am depriving a hard working doordasher of their income and selfish keeping the $5 delivery fee for the $3 coffee for myself, because I horrible no good able-bodied person who is flaunting my privileged by walking to the coffee shop rather ordering delivery. if i truly cared about the plight of the working-class, i'd be ordering as much doordash as possible to make sure my income goes direct to them, or something. blah blah i'm a massive prick because i have a higher income job and work from home and I am stealing that from someone else more deserving because of my skin color and penis, or something.

literally have had this argued at me before, btw. almost always by folks whose parents are multil millionaires, who consider themselves to be struggling proletariat in their hipster job that pays shit, but offering solidarity because they order doordash everyday, and hey you can just call up the bank of mom and dad and ask for $5000 when you can't make rent this month.

It was cheaper and faster to doordash a restaurant quite literally across the street in college, I tested it a few times when my friends would go to buy food there and mine would come like 10 minutes before they got back. Literally across the street, like a 1 minute walk max.

That sounds like the before days. These days, they profit the fuck out of us. Kids in college now know no different. Fuck these types of businesses

4 minutes is 2 miles.

Walking 30mph

You walk at a brisk pace!

what's peak American is the fact you think you are better than the delivery driver, even if you make less than them.

i think for many people, even who can't really afford food delivery, it's a social flex that 'at least i am not delivering pizzas and i'm the one getting them delivered'.

people love their social hierarchicies based on employment roles.

I'ma need you to connect the dots for me on this one dawg.

people love to look down on other people. and ordering delivery is one way they get to do that.

Can you show me the part of the post looking down on the driver and not the person too lazy to walk a few blocks for a pizza?

He wasn't saying you were wrong or arguing with you. He was adding on to your post.

what’s peak American is the fact you think you are better than the delivery driver

Eh

if an 8 minute round trip saves you $15, then you're essentially paying yourself $112.50/hr to be your own delivery driver

And yet the delivery driver makes fuckall.

That's the part that's criminal about delivery fees not going to the driver. My nephew used to deliver for a pizza place but then switched to Uber Eats after his pizza company outsourced and fired all the drivers.

People place orders and see that they're paying a delivery fee, a service fee, and a higher menu price than ordering in the store and then think that they don't need to tip much (if anything) because surely that money is going to the driver doing the actual work and deliverying the food.

But nope, the driver gets paid very little for taking an order. The tip is the vast majority of their salary. My nephew will show me screenshots of orders that he gets that will be like "drive 10 miles to pickup the order, then 5 miles to picked the second piece of the order, then 10 miles to deliver it - for $2.00."

What's worse is that since companies have figured out they can hide this from consumers and get away with it, they've expanded to stuff like "same day delivery" from retail stores. Customers think "same day delivery" is the equivalent to an item being shipped, so would never consider tipping. But it turns out those services are also going through delivery drivers like Uber Eats, meaning someone will pick up a retail order in their own car and get paid next to nothing without tips (which most people don't even think to pay).

Tipping in lieu of salary is a scam.

Yeah that's some pretty insane cost/benefit for time.

It's one of those things I like doing to encourage myself to do things. "OK so if I do this thing by myself, what am I 'getting paid'?"

...and then I compare that to the number of hours I'd have to work to earn the same amount of money (after taxes).

That's something my father taught me. Always consider what your time is worth. Invest 2 hours just to save 8 Euro? Not a great deal for most people.

Second anon is an illuminati lizard person shill tryna get people to eat bugs.

If it's 4 minutes away why not walk? The fuck?

They probably mean a 4 minute drive, which would be like a 30 minute walk, assuming you can cross the 6-lane monstrosity of a road that the pizza place is on without being smushed by a lifted F-250.

Or half a mile if you have a couple junctions with red lights ahead, like around the block. Anon could've been living in a flat over said pizza joint for all we know. Or they are just a liar, who also have a crush on delivery driver, so they order pizza to see them again.

I never had a hot delivery driver.

they should let you pay an extra fee for hot delivery drivers only. would def boost revenue.

$10 + $7 + $2 or $3 = $19 or $20. Sales tax would be less than a dollar. Anon's unhealthy lifestyle is causing cognitive decline

sales tax would be less than a dollar

Entirely locality dependent. Where I live, tax on a $20 tab would be a little under $2. I know there's some municipalities where it'd be as high as $2.40.

So, sure, technically still not $25, but once you need more than a $20 bill, it's not obscene to round up to the nearest $5.

Where I'm at, I'm pretty sure sales taxes aren't assessed on the fees, only on the product

you see, the delivery fee is $7, but then you also have to pay $5 in "other fees", whatever that means

Probably an “online convenience fee,” as if it’s more work to have an order print up at the restaurant than to make someone there take a phone call.

It's remarkable how much people will complain about delivery fees and refuse to cook themselves, or even go out and buy premade food

I don't usually buy premade food in the supermarkets, but when I do - I'm super picky. The thing about them is that even the best meals I can find have too much salt. The ingredients are fine, it's really not hard to get meals that aren't superprocessed for cheap, but the macros are always off.

<2 grams of salt per serving is what I find unusually few in premade meals, and it's still an awful lot compared to what I'm personally adding when I cook.

salt tastes good

People who are used to eating that much salt just don't even notice when good is way too salty. I grew up eating whatever processed shit was put in front of me, but after reducing my salt and sugar intake years ago, I'm now acutely sensitive to food when it's too salty or sweet, which is a serious departure from my tastes when I was young

Yeah, it's a bit of a double edged sword. On the one hand, you're less likely to binge on food you find too salty or sweet, but on the other hand, it's harder to find a treat you'll actually enjoy when you do indulge.

they are lazy and entitled.

and they think people who cook are assholes.

very few people i meet cook on a daily basis. almost everyone where i live is doordashing or doing delivery mealboxes or getting pre-made stuff from the grocery store. and constantly complaining how broke they are.

like anytime i go on a date the past few years, and say i like to cook, it's fun. the other person thinks i'm mentally ill or some kind of elitist asshole for saying that.

has nothing to do with being lazy or entitled.

despite all the rugged individualist propaganda, the anti-intellectualism of our culture hinders anyone from attempting anything new and we act like anyone who does is some kind of wizard or supergenius; like with everything else, we act like cooking a decent meal with flavor is best left to the experts.

you can go on youtube--a platform where thousands of expert chefs are spilling their secrets in an easy to follow, step-by-step manner--and easily learn to cook decent food.

but people don't. just like they don't learn how to do basic tech shit, like install an OS.

right, everyone is just helpless victims who lack any/all agency for their own choices.

and that isn't a choice they make at all...

It's not useful to look at a systemic problem and go "Well obviously those are just dumb bad no good individuals and nothing can be done".

systematic problems come from the choices of individuals.

if we all act like assholes being an asshole becomes systematic.

if you want to stop people from being assholes, you've got to start with yourself.

systematic problems come from the choices of individuals.

You can't fix a systemic problem by just saying "stop being assholes", you can fix a systemic problem by fixing the systemic issue. For example, increasing rent and lowering wages increases homelessness. Telling people to work harder doesn't decrease homelessness, building rent-controlled housing and increasing minimum wage does.

Weird. I don't have any issues with my food, being an asshole, or lots of other common problems people have.

because i choose not to participate in the stupid shit other people do that makes their lives miserable. eat right, exercise, don't waste your money on stupid shit, and you too, might enjoy life instead of being miserable all the time.

when my rent goes up... I ask for a raise. or change jobs and then usually my company counter-offers.

weird how that works!

While there is nutrition value to some bugs, most grasses pass undigested through the human gut. We are not ruminants Also if you leave bugs for a chicken to eat, you can have eggs instead.

Don't mention keeping chickens on Lemmy, you'll get some vegan telling you how unethical it is to have a chicken and eat its eggs

eating bugs isn't vegan neither tho

It's not possible to live according to the morals of everyone else. They're mutually contradictory with each other for one thing lol. I'm at peace with the idea that other people won't always agree with me.

No more than it is to have a pet cat and give away its 6-8 week old children to strangers by force.

sigh

Eggs aren't babies, they're periods.

chickens don't menstruate

They ovulate, if you want to be technical about it

Many Americans don’t have healthy grass if they have grass in the first place. In many places in the US keeping a pristine grass yard requires a shit ton of human intervention, which means fertilizers and a ton of chemicals. Since grass isn’t native to those areas.

honestly the way some of you talk about America you make it seem like Ethiopia

because people have no perspective on anything anymore let alone any connection to physical reality.

they just consumer hyperbolic nonsense on the internet and regurgitate it for the likes. and then like... then bring that shit into the real world. which is the scariest part.

and if you like try to converse with them, they just call you names and tell you how offensive you are if you like, cite a GDP PP number. Or they would clap back and be like the 7.5% growth rate in Ethopia last year compared to the USA 2% means ethopia is a economic paradise and americans should immigrate there.

where isn't grass native? are you referring specifically to their lawns? because like, even our deserts here have grass.

Yeah I mean lawn grass. Most people don’t use native species.

I assume op just burned and extra $5 for fun as part of this whole interaction..

Tax.

Is that not already included in the price in the US? I don't live in the US, this is a genuine question.

taxes are almost never included in prices in the USA.

they are added on at the time of sale.

we do not have VAT. we have sales taxes. and those sales taxes are different in every city, and sometimes town/state.

and the items that are taxed are also different in every state, and sometimes city/town.

additionally some places have meal taxes, specifically for pre-made and restaurant food.

and many restaurants charge service fees now.

in my city, you would typically pay 7% tax, 2% fee, and 20% tip all added on top of the menu price.

which is why when I get a hamburger and a beer, and it's $30 on the menu, I actually pay $40 or more.

That sounds insanely frustrating to deal with.

it's not if you are used to it.

just like using imperial measurements.

Tax is not included in listed prices in the USA.

It's infuriating.

The state that I lived in there had a tax at restaurants. Each town was allowed to add up to a percent to that. Some did 0%, some 0.5% some 1%. Also, alcohol was taxed at a different rate.

So basically you had no idea what the actual cost for food would be when you ordered.

I think not, even the prices in grocery store don't include VAT. It seems absurd to me

People in Australia are literally like the OP and then say there's a cost of living crisis unironically

Right? If they didn't order 25 dollar avocado toast every day, they'd be able to afford a house by the time they're 70.

If you weren't spending $25k per year on obscene uber eats take away fee's you could have a deposit in 3-5 years

Nobody is spending 25K per year on uber eats pizza.

I have a family member doing just that.

So yea, it's out there.

they are.

i had several exes who spend $1000 a month on delivery food. and that was 10 years ago. today that would be easily 2-3K a month for the same volume of food.

and if you confront them about it, they tell you to fuck yourself, if you really cared you'd just pay the bill for them and help them, instead of 'attacking and criticizing' them by pointing out if you make 2-3K a month, spending most of your income on food isn't really a smart move.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/185335/median-hourly-earnings-of-wage-and-salary-workers/

according to this the median hourly wage is $20 in 2024, so it would take the median worker 1.25 hours to afford this overpriced pizza

if he picked it up instead of relying on delivery he could get it for $10, which is 30 minutes work

average worker does 8.4 hours of work per day

i think this all might be a bit hyperbolic 😅

the average working isn't ordering doordash everyday.

it's the person making 100K+ a year working 60 hours+ a week

1 person can make dozens of pizzas per hour, the ingredients are cheap. Its extremely abnormal for basic prepared food to be considered a luxury.

Well, about that ...

Are you ordering 3 pizzas every day?

LAWYER! I need my lawyer! I'm under undue pressure!

How much detached from reality is this guy. Is he a CEO or something?

Imagine this. People should be able to afford delivery pizza.

I mean you can but back in the olden days (the 90's) take away pizza was a treat not dinner every night and before the 90's going out to a restaurant was a treat there was no delivery

He's also 4 minutes away from the pizza shop, just go out and pick it up ya fatty

Are you a CEO or something? You're so detached from reality. Are all your memories based on sitcoms from 1992? Ya been at a grocery store lately? Seen the prices there? Exactly when do You think delivery was invented?

What does grocery store prices have to do with a fat fuck ordering pizza delivery on uber eats from a pizza shop 4 minutes away?

Nothing to do with that. But You're suggesting that ordering a pizza is wasting money. Well currently a delivered pizza isn't much more expensive than food from the store. You seem unaware of that.

lmao get fucked

delivered pizza isn’t even as cheap as pickup, which if we go by the OP’s post is over 50% cheaper, let alone the $5 meals at aldi that even I can get in Australia and we have the highest labour costs in the world

they are just your typical chud who grew up w/ money and thinks anyone who had less money than them growing up didn't exist.

and is also totally outraged that they don't have as much spending power as their parents did, instead of appreciative of how good they actually have it compared to most everyone else.

i never had delivery pizza until i was like 25. but what do i know, i was a poor piece of shit most of my entire life, who like had to cook my own food. the horror.

Things don't have to be that bad. Here in vietnam you can get a bahn mi or soup for 75 cents to 2 dollars, people who make way less than you do eat out every single day and still manage to save money.

The problem isn't that people want to pay someone else to make or deliver food, the problem is that it's all insanely overpriced because capitalism.

the problem is that it’s all insanely overpriced because capitalism.

You think Vietnam has cheap food because it’s not capitalism?

No, I think prices increase under capitalism as commercial rent increases and effective monopolies are formed.

Why not just lookup the actual answer instead of guessing badly?

Talk to literally any business owner, ask them how much rent is.

Frozen

Pizza

I don't know if they deliver to the USA, but this electric pizza cooker is amazing:

https://a.aliexpress.com/_EHPM5iA

It gets twice as hot as a normal oven in a few minutes and makes amazing pizza. You can buy dough, pizza sauce, and shredded cheese - or make all of these from scratch very easily.

It doesn't take a lot of space. My rough estimate is that it uses the same electricity as cooking pizza in an oven.

If you're spending $25 on pizza then it will quickly pay for itself.

One downside is that it does take some space, so if you're in a really cramped living environment (dorm room, Manhattan apartment) then you might not have room. Also, you may end up eating a lot more pizza than you should...

no

One of the food delivery apps labeled something “long distance delivery” at five miles. I could walk that. I didn’t, but I certainly didn’t pay someone else to drive it.

No wonder if you're living in a metropolitarian area, 5 miles is quite hefty in big cities

i mean you joke but fried cicadas aren't half bad

midwest.social

Rules

  1. No porn.
  2. No bigotry, hate speech.
  3. No ads / spamming.
  4. No conspiracies / QAnon / antivaxx sentiment
  5. No zionists
  6. No fascists

Chat Room

Matrix chat room: https://matrix.to/#/#midwestsociallemmy:matrix.org

Communities

Communities from our friends:

Donations

LiberaPay link: https://liberapay.com/seahorse