Comment by TravisLS | Hacker News Reader

Comment by TravisLS | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

I have to say, having been both a bike messenger and programmer for several years each, that there are some very alluring aspects to the bike messenger lifestyle. It's serene and meditative, you work outdoors, it's really energizing. The fact that it rarely pays more than $300/wk (unless it's snowing) makes it a less viable option for people trying to make a good life for a family. That part's not really mentioned in the articles glamorizing the lifestyle.

Being a programmer can often seem like the opposite of that, when you're in the office on Saturday writing PHP form validation logic for the 500th time for an arbitrary deadline.

I used to say being a bike messenger was my favorite job I ever had, until I saved up a little money and started working on a startup a few months ago. Building my startup's product and market is much more energizing, freeing, and rewarding than being a bike messenger ever was. I can't wait to get up in the morning and start programming (assuming that's on the agenda for the day).

Plus now I can ride my bike around NYC during the work day, without having to hang out in corporate mail rooms 40% of the time.

"The fact that it rarely pays more than $300/wk (unless it's snowing) makes it a less viable option for people trying to make a good life for a family. That part's not really mentioned in the articles glamorizing the lifestyle."

Here's a bit that was cut from the article, originally right after the part where I write that Duff gave couriering one last shot after moving back to Toronto:

"It was humbling," Duff says. "I only lasted four months before I decided it wasn't worth it." When he was 22, if Duff had a bad day and only brought home $70, it was OK. He shared a house with three roommates and had cheap rent and few expenses. But now if he makes only $70 in day, it's barely enough to cover child care.

"I wouldn't recommend anyone who has a family consider leaving their white collar job for couriering," Duff says. "But I think it's a very reasonable decision if you hate your job and you're in your 20s and you're single and have relatively few expenses."

"... When a friend offered him a job as a bike messenger, he took it — in part because couriers had been glamorized in cyberpunk novels like William Gibson’s Virtual Light and Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash, but also because it would ease his mind ..."

Great read Klint. This is the best quote from the article and I really understand this. I remember having the best of both, working outdoors during University - some money and hard physical work. Undo-able now. Of the bike riders I see on the weekend, a fair portion I imagine are city-boys working in high-stress cerebral occupations like software & finance ~ http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/5646201528/

wait a few more months and experience a few near-death moments or failures regarding your startup and you will see that the hard part is keeping the energy your started out with while doing the marathon that is startup-live!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com