Yet Another Cycling Forum
Off Topic => The Pub => Arts and Entertainment => Topic started by: Justin(e) on 20 October, 2008, 12:54:19 am
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There is an article on radio4 currently 'Thinking Aloud' about the fact that cycle couriers are likely to have cycling as their hobby as well as their job.
Interestingly, there is a 50% chance (according to the authors of the scholarly article below) that they would suffer a treatable injury. Making it the most dangerous occupation on the Health and Safety Executive's list. But they were happy.
http://soc.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/42/4/618 (http://soc.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/42/4/618)
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I'm seriously considering doing a bit of courier work, as the arse seems to have fallen out the freelance design market and I'm now properly skint. Being out on the bike all day is a lot more attractive than stacking shelves in Tesco, even with winter approaching. Hopefully my extra padding will see me through.
Getting life insurance can be pretty expensive apparently. You get put in the same bracket as deep sea divers, trawlermen, steeplejacks, oil rig workers and bomb disposal experts. :o
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Wow, the guy managed a PhD thesis, with field work, on bicycle messengers...
The paper seems interesting. It's very accessible as would any good newspaper article (I was execting something a bit more specialised in a professional journal). No big surprise though for who has some knowledge about the bicycle messeenger scene but a much better article than what we have seen in most of the recent press cuttings.
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Same with motorbike couriers (all the ones I have know anyway). Probably because it's one of those jobs you fall into because of the hobby. Other ones that spring to mind are naturalist, photographer and teaching any sport.
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The same for musicians and music teachers. And for a few mathematicians too... In that article though, more than the hobby-work aspect, is the notion of a self suffcient group of "outsiders". This could also explain why most of what they do, they do within the group?
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I have been lucky, worked in IT for many year and one of my hobbies is fiddling around with computers and my other hobby is cycling and now I'm a cycling instructor. I'm not making a bomb but I'm stress free and really enjoy life.
There is nothing better than waking up and getting up to do something you love.
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IIRC - Average age 28
Average length of 'career' - 3 years.
Sex - 1 female for every 6 males.
Sewage workers also had a high degree of job satisfaction. This (in common with cycle messangers) was attributed to the "Us v Them" social aspect of the job.
Apart from the injuries, the other down side was the pay. The author said that the study was a couple of years old, but the average pay was about £50-70 / day. Ouch!