Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/07/19/new-gig-economy-job-on-demand.html
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While I applaud the entrepreneurial effort, I can’t help but think: How f-ing lazy could someone be to actually walk a dog but not pick up poop? I understand that picking up your dog’s poop is gross, but wear gloves then.
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OK, so for $35 a month, you get unlimited dogshit cleanup. That’s a little over $1 a day, but I’m sure the company gets a cut. So, someone is being paid less than $1 a day to go find and pick up someone else’s dog’s shit, multiple times on that day?
I’m privileged, in a several ways, but I cannot fathom being the gig worker who actually does this. I’d sooner go back to serving beer to coked up fishermen in that low rent karaoke bar. {Shudder}
Also, if the pitch didn’t include the phrase “Uber for Dog Shit” I would be quite disappoint.
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Demand in Cleveland has spiked… But not expected to last
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I’d ask one of the many lazy jackasses in my neighborhood who can’t seem to pick up their dog’s poop, but I’m afraid I’d punch them in the face before the question left my mouth.
Or how about I ask the people who do bag their dog’s poop why they are unable to carry the blue bag o’ doody to a trash can, instead of leaving it there in the bushes?
Dang, dog poop really pisses me off.
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My new startup shall be called “Flooshr”.
Ah reinventing the days when poorer people will do the crappiest job for people with more money, values to live by.
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This doesn’t seem remotely economically viable, especially since GPS coordinates from cell phones varry widely in their range of accuracy and won’t necessarily pinpoint dog poop.
This seems like satire, or like an excuse for people just to leave dog poop and claim that they’re doing something about it even though they’re not.
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Looks like another " shitty " job, to me.
I had a friend who tried a similar idea. She offered a subscription service where she would go to people’s houses twice a week and scoop their back yards. Her rates were higher than this. These rates are not viable. At $0.25/scoop, with transportation costs and assuming your time is worth something, there is no way to make this viable.
A human earning $8/hour makes $0.13/minute. In other words, you would need to scoop 30 times per hour in order to earn this much. Even in the busiest dog park, this would be a challenge. And of course the company will take a piece of that $0.25/scoop.
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This is a dumb business idea but I don’t think something has to amount to a full-time job to work. This isn’t “Uber for dog shit,” it’s more like “Mechanical Turk for dog shit” (without the global cost-of-living differentials making it viable for most turkers). No one is going to drive or take the bus just to pick up dog shit, they’ll do it in their neighborhood or places they’d normally be, perhaps with their own dog. Hell, some people already pick up poop in their neighborhood for free, just to make it nicer. Maybe that’s where this idea came from.
I’m amused by the idea that someone might be picking up some poop but skipping others on a street because they don’t do it for free. Or maybe one dog owner “drafts” behind another so his dog’s poop gets picked up along with the first one.
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Yes, now that I’ve watched the video, I think it’s a joke. I think they missed an opportunity. After the emo kid asks about his cat’s poop and the spokesblob says “that’s a cat, but sure,” they cut to a guy with the baby, they definitely should’ve clarified whether baby shit is on the table, as it were.
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If you are close enough to pick it up, why not pick it up? Maybe, I guess, if you forgot your bag but … seriously? How much does someone get to pick up a poop? 50 cents? To
If you are in the UK, don’t forget to include the fine that you will get for leaving dog shit lying around. The courts won’t care that someone else has been paid to pick it up.
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They won’t give a shit?
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Not enough data to watch the video, but question:
What if it’s MY poop?
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You poop in public?
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I imagine if you take a picture and upload to its map, you’re covered.
The cops may arrest you, however…
