u/Big_Concentrate_7260

Last night around 9:00pm I rejected s $42/25 mile one-way curbside offer, thinking it would pop back up with higher prices. Nope. It disappeared for good. I assumed someone else got it. Now today, just a few minutes ago it got sent to me as a JFY at $36. It's a large order (60/90), and the lady tipped $10...not a horrible tip, it could be better, but this poor lady is having to wait DAYS for her groceries because Walmart is too cheap to pay for its delivery.

Unfortunately, there is a common sentiment among "cowboys" that unless you have been there and done that, you can't wear a cowboy hat and boots, and you're never going to be a "real cowboy." There is also a sense of elitism, especially in the Mountain West, where it seems they lay claim to the Cowboy spirit and lifestyle. In truth, there are just as many, if not more "cowboys" East of the Mississippi River than out West, because the grass is greener, and population density and stocking rates are higher (more cows per acre of land). Stetson hats come from a Northeastern man. Cowboy boots are derived from the US cavalry boots of the 1800's. Most of our beef breeds come from northwestern Europe. Just because back East they push cows on foot or with a 4-wheeler it does not make their job any less "cowboy" than someone whose job is to round up cows on the cold desert ranges on horseback.

We also need to do away with acting like it's a good thing to cuss, chain smoke/chew dip, act like an arrogant a$$hole just because you rope and ride broncs, and generally act uneducated. I guarantee there are more people who act like mature adults who can do that work just fine without the vulgarities and unhealthy habits.

There is no need to glorify this job/lifestyle. Everyone is contributing to society in some shape and form, from the farmers in Illinois to fisherman in Maine, and everything in-between. Honestly, most of our beef comes from borderline Eastern states and California, places not exactly renowned for cowboy culture, so we can't act like the Western states "feed the country" any more than other states do.

Lastly, just because you have only experienced ranching style one way all your life does not make it the best or only viable way to run cattle or ride horses. Out of the hundreds of millions of acres of open land across the US and Canada, there are far more people who operate differently than you than there are those who do things the same way as you.

Sorry to run on like this in a negative light. Sometimes you just gotta get things off your chest.

Customer last night after I completed shopping: messages me asking "Am I still getting my order?" Uh, yeah, that's why I'm shopping for it.

I was hit by a driver (completely her fault) last May. She failed to yield at a T-intersection as I came barreling by at 55mph (the speed limit). At the time everyone said it shouldn't affect me, but lately I have seen numerous posts about deactivations for not-at-fault accidents. How long after the accidents have these deactivations occurred? Do I need to be concerned?

I get it, horses are cool, hats and boots are aesthetically pleasing, but pushing cows is dusty, dirty, full of cow pies, and generally nothing more than hard work. Why do so many people make it into some romantic dream? Do their views of it change once they've done it for a while? I enjoy it, and if it wasn't for the fact that it drove me to borderline bankruptcy I'd still be doing it, but dang man, some of you act like it's a job befitting demigods.

It just looks cheesy.

Everyone needs to eat, but I admit that I get a bit frustrated by people from the big city "invading" my small zone. Not griping, just thinking out loud.

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I sat all day rejecting bad offers until accepting a $60/60 mile round-trip GMD (middle of nowhere, took 90 minutes to start and get back to the store). I picked it up at 6:00pm, got back at 7:30. From 7:30 to 9:00 I made another $70 with quick in-town shopping orders, with basically zero fuel cost. So in three hours I made $130 after waiting all day at home. (I live close enough to accept offers from home.) This app pays amazingly well if you're logged in at the right times, but often times you get nothing. Such is the cost of freedom I guess.

It was a two item shope. A little boy was watching me as I scanned my phone and tossed the items in a bag, then made eye contact with me. His big, blue, worried, innocent eyes made me feel so bad. I did nothing wrong but still...now the kid thinks I'm a thief. It's a small community here. I hope his parents told him what actually happened.

Just had to get that off my chest.

I solely play anon games because rated chess gets me too worked up (my top elo was 1730 on Chess.com but it got too addictive/emotionally invested for me so I closed my account--now I'm much happier on unrated Lichess). What is it with virtually everyone leaving the game rather than resigning from a losing position? Unless Lichess put me on some sort of lower player pool because sometimes I'll abort games due to opponents constantly either aborting after 40 seconds so after waiting 10-25 seconds I'll just save myself the time.

Besides me, is there anyone else who does it? I do the same thing with "groceries" (grow-shurries). Where does this accent come from? It clearly came over to the the USA and Canada from Europe, but I'm not sure if it's from the Scots, Irish, or some Scandinavian immigrants.

Personally, I prefer $20 minimum per half hour, but if it's absolutely dead and I'm already at the store I'll take $15 to end the day.

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It's been dropping down to the fifties and upper forties Fahrenheit where I live. Popping the windows open and sleeping in my boxers feels smazing at that temp. Much of this summer has been miserable at night due to my AC not circulating the cold air into my bedroom and nighttime temperatures staying in the 68-75 degrees range. I can't wait for actual Fall weather.

I was driving back from a delivery and was glancing at the offers screen off and on (no-hands, just watching it). Two offers would recirculate for twenty minutes due to low pay and few drivers being on duty to reject them. Once I got back to town I parked and rejected them, thinking they'd pop back up with higher prices. They never came back. Both were small orders, but the pay was trash. Did Walmart switch them to higher pay with JFY offers to other drivers, or were they canceled? I've had this happen a few times lately. This zone paid great until a few weeks ago but now it's trash too, just like my other zone. Now I hesitate to reject anything because it often disappears for good, despite sitting for a long time without surging.

I have been an independent contractor for a few years now, doing various forms of work in different fields (my Reddit posts are mostly about Walmart Spark, but that is just a small part of my work across the last few years). Pay is such trash that I'm considering a regular W2 job. Last time I had an hourly W2 Job was in 2023, earning $23/hour in an agricultural role. The starting pay for that position was $19/hour nearly a decade ago. Today, that company has the same starting wage, while similar jobs at different companies I've looked at are in the $16-$18/hour range. That is not a liveable wage without working 50-60 hours every week.

Jobs are fewer are further between since the AI boom. Even if I wanted such jobs as I mentioned, there are hundreds, if not thousands of applicants for every position due to AI layoffs which flood the applicant pools, and people are increasingly reliant on the internet for job searches. Nowadays small farmers are posting their jobs online for harvest work, rather than relying on their farming community to connect with seasoned hands; even worse, they're paying less than what was common five years ago. They act like $20/hour for a role that doesn't pay overtime after 40 hours is a great job. They're posting positions starting at $17/hour! The standard in my area five years ago was to start at $25/hour.

Rent is not outrageously priced for me. My food budget is very low. Insurance premiums are minimal. I have one monthly subscription. I don't even have a TV. What really hurts are diesel prices (which basically are the same as they have been on average since 2021/2022, so spare me the political drama).

I don't know what to do. I can't land clients for my specialties because everyone says they'll call me but never follows through, and me following up on leads has been fruitless. Normal jobs aren't worth taking. Even the competition for mowing lawns is outrageous between stingy clients and everyone else looking for that gig. I can drive truck, shoe horses, punch cows, plant, harvest and till fields; I can't even land a job mucking horse stalls anymore because the barns either sold out or are fully staffed. I have graduate level education. What else can I do? Any advice is appreciated.