骑手的十分钟

我刚才给一个外卖骑手打了差评。他送晚了四分钟，我一直看着手机等，越等越生气，想都没想就打了差评。

I just left a bad review for a delivery rider. He was four minutes late. I kept watching my phone waiting, got angrier the longer I waited, and left the bad review without thinking twice.

才晚了四分钟，你就打差评了？这个差评对骑手很重要，你知道吗？

Only four minutes late, and you left a bad review? Do you know how much that bad review matters to the rider?

我知道差评不好，但是我付的钱买的是“三十分钟送到”，不是“三十四分钟送到”。他晚了，我说的是实话，这有什么不对？

I know a bad review isn't a nice thing, but what I paid for was "delivered in thirty minutes," not "delivered in thirty-four minutes." He was late, and I said what actually happened. What's wrong with that?

这话也没错。但是你知道那四分钟，骑手在做什么吗？我以前夏天在一个外卖平台送过外卖，我说说我看到的事情。

That's not wrong either. But do you know what the rider was doing during those four minutes? I delivered for a takeout platform one summer, let me tell you what I saw.

你还送过外卖？那你说说，一个骑手迟到四分钟，是因为懒，还是因为别的事情？

You used to deliver food? Then tell me, is a rider four minutes late because he's lazy, or because of something else?

大部分时候不是懒。平台的系统会给每一个外卖一个时间，比如三十分钟。这个时间不是骑手定的，是平台的系统定的。

Most of the time it isn't laziness. The platform's system gives every delivery a time limit, say thirty minutes. That number isn't set by the rider, it's set by the platform's system.

系统定的时间，应该也是合理的时间吧？不然平台为什么要用这个数字？

If the system set the time, shouldn't it be a reasonable time? Otherwise why would the platform use that number in the first place?

系统看的是地图上的路，不是真的路。下雨的时候，路很滑，车也多，可是系统给的时间还是一样，不会因为下雨就多给你五分钟。

The system looks at the road on a map, not the real road. When it's raining, the road is slippery and there's more traffic, but the system's time stays the same, it won't give you five extra minutes just because it's raining.

那骑手为什么不能告诉平台，今天下雨，应该多给一点时间？

Then why can't the rider just tell the platform, it's raining today, you should give more time?

骑手可以打电话，但是平台不会马上改。手机上一直写着“还有五分钟”，“还有三分钟”，骑手看着这个数字，心里的压力很大，有时候看到红灯也不停，骑得很危险。

The rider can call, but the platform won't change it right away. The phone keeps showing "five minutes left," "three minutes left," the rider watches that number, feels enormous pressure, and sometimes doesn't even stop at a red light, riding dangerously through it.

我没想到这么危险。但是，如果骑手因为怕迟到，看到红灯也不停车，这也不安全，这个责任是谁的？

I hadn't thought it was this dangerous. But if a rider, afraid of being late, doesn't even stop for a red light, that isn't safe either. Whose responsibility is that?

这就是我想问你的问题。是平台的责任，因为是平台定的时间；还是骑手的责任，因为是他自己在骑车；还是没有人的责任，因为大家都只是在做自己的工作？

That's exactly the question I want to ask you. Is it the platform's responsibility, because the platform set the time? The rider's responsibility, because he's the one riding? Or nobody's responsibility, because everyone is just doing their own job?

我不知道。但是我还是觉得，我的差评没有错。我等了三十四分钟，不是三十分钟，这是真的事情，我说的也是真话。

I don't know. But I still think my bad review wasn't wrong. I waited thirty-four minutes, not thirty. That's a real fact, and what I said was the truth too.

你说得也对。差评说的是真话，但是那个骑手可能一整天都在这样的压力里骑车，你的差评会让他今天挣的钱变少。

You're right too. The bad review does state the truth, but that rider probably rides under this kind of pressure all day, and your bad review will mean less money for him today.

那我要不要把差评改成好评？

So should I change the bad review into a good one?

我也不知道。我只是觉得，你可以打差评，但是也可以想一想，那四分钟，可能不是他一个人能决定的。

I don't know either. I just think, you're allowed to leave a bad review, but you can also think about it a little, those four minutes might not have been his to decide alone.

好，我再想想。但是这个问题，你说到底是平台的问题，还是我们这些顾客的问题？

All right, I'll think about it more. But this question, in the end, is it the platform's problem, or a problem with customers like me?

我觉得两边都有一点，可能还有系统的问题。这个问题，我们两个今天说不清楚，可能谁也说不清楚。

I think both sides have a bit of it, and there's probably a system problem too. This question, the two of us can't sort out today. Maybe nobody can.