“We’ll buy and deliver anything you want, nothing’s too strange for us.” In today’s fast-paced society, many people are looking for ways to save time wherever they can, and this has led to an industry built around purchasing and delivering items for customers. Errand running companies specialize in delivering urgent items or purchasing goods on behalf of their customers. “So long as the customer is willing to place the order, unless it involves contraband goods, whatever they want, we’ll help them to buy it and deliver it.”
According to one errand running company, they purchase all sorts of products on behalf of their customers and have previously received requests to buy hotpot, pizza, lunch boxes and other food items, while other customers have asked errand runners to pay their water and electricity bills, rent and phone bills. The company also says that the proportion of female customers far exceeds male customers.
As one member of the errand running industry puts it: one customer’s laziness is our business opportunity. One customer, who lives on the second floor, was too lazy to leave his house and asked an errand runner to help him buy breakfast from a breakfast bar on the first floor and then deliver it upstairs. On another occasion, a boyfriend who was working away from home and busy on company business employed the services of an errand runner to buy roses on Valentine’s Day and then deliver the flowers to his girlfriend.
Photo: Pixabay
照片:Pixabay
(Liberty Times, translated by Edward Jones)
「什麼都能代購送,什麼都不奇怪!」現代社會忙碌,不少人為了節省時間,衍生代買代送新行業,跑腿公司專替客戶跑腿購物與急件送貨,「只要客戶敢下單,除了違禁品外,我們都能代購送」。
跑腿公司表示,代購商品什麼都有,有人要求代買火鍋、披薩、便當等食物,還有客戶會請他們代繳水電費、房租或電話費;此外,女性委託代購的比例較男性高出許多。
業者說,只要客戶「懶」,就是公司商機;曾接到客戶住在二樓,因為懶得出門,要他們代購一樓早餐店的早餐送上二樓;也有在異地工作的男友,情人節有公事要忙,請他們代購玫瑰花給女友。
(自由時報記者許國楨)
Follow Up讀後練習
1. Have you ever used an errand running service? If not, when would you consider using one?
你曾經使用過跑腿服務嗎?如果沒有,你在什麼情況下會考慮委託跑腿員?
2. If your boyfriend or girlfriend used an errand runner on your birthday or Valentine’s Day to purchase and deliver flowers or a gift, how would you feel?
如果你的男友或女友在你生日或情人節的時候請跑腿公司代購鮮花或其他禮物送給你,你會有什麼樣的感受?
3. Why do you think there are presently more females than males using errand running services?
目前女性委託跑腿員的比例較男性高,您覺得原因何在?
4. Do you think errand running companies provide a worthwhile service or are they symbolic of modern society becoming more lazy?
跑腿公司提供的服務是否有其獨特的價值?又或者,這種跑腿服務只是彰顯出現代人愈來愈懶的現象 ?
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
Everyone has seen a piece of fruit turn brown after being cut. Have you ever wondered why that happens? It is a common phenomenon that occurs due to a chemical reaction called enzymatic browning. The appearance, flavor and nutritional value of the fruit are all affected by this reaction. Some fruits, such as apples, pears, bananas, avocados and peaches, are more prone to enzymatic browning than others. These fruits contain high levels of an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase, or PPO for short. __1__ This causes a chain of chemical reactions that ultimately transforms the phenolic compounds into