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June 29, 2021 6:12 AM

The visionaries behind Amazon Dating (previously) bring you PostDates, a new gig economy solution to handling the details of a breakup. [SL: parody]
posted by eotvos (9 comments total)

Somehow I missed the word "parody" in the post and 100% believed this was a real app/service until I clicked through to the actual website.
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:25 AM on June 29, 2021 [1 favorite]

Don't give the bastards ideas!
posted by indianbadger1 at 7:23 AM on June 29, 2021 [2 favorites]

One time a guy left a chapstick at my house and was like "oh I left my chapstick there, I guess I'll have to come by again" and I passive aggressively paypalled him $1.19. I am not above this service.
posted by phunniemee at 7:29 AM on June 29, 2021 [28 favorites]

They should bring you a box to fill, like those pod movers.

Honestly there are times I could see using this
posted by emjaybee at 7:53 AM on June 29, 2021

I could have used this for my last roommate breakup. Not that I had the money for it at the time.

And yeah, don't give the sociopathic Silicon Valley techbros any ideas.
posted by thebotanyofsouls at 9:56 AM on June 29, 2021

I have had this happen in real life (items returned post-breakup, Taskrabbit style). Can confirm, I felt like human garbage (and deserved to), and that it was easier, even possibly satisfying, for my ex to do it.

My heart would go out to anyone who didn't deserve it though. What a gross feeling.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 12:42 PM on June 29, 2021

Are we sure this is a parody? The site looks like it's serious and its Twitter says:

U guys know that this actually works right?— Postdates (@Postdates) June 29, 2021

Here's an excerpt from the site's FAQ:

FAQ

Is this for real?

Yes.

Like, actually?

Yes. We are fully operational in New York City and Los Angeles (for a limited time only).

posted by Joe in Australia at 2:24 PM on June 29, 2021 [1 favorite]

It's a courier service. Postmates was that before they took VC funding and pivoted to focus on food delivery. You can also call an Uber and talk the driver into carting a box of stuff across town for you.

Growing the market to find new customers is a time honored tradition in business school, and why shouldn't you pay someone else to drop off stuff to your ex in the gig economy - far lower chance of your ex getting together with your friend if you don't have your friend do the drop off because you can't do it yourself.

I can't wait for the rest of the emotional labor suite to have apps. Where's the "I forgot my sister's birthday and need to make it up to her" app? Where's the "go to my son's softball game for me" app? There's already a "help me move" app (Lugg). I'm not sure what the future of work holds, so we'll have to see where monetizing emotional labor actually takes culture and society.
posted by fragmede at 4:11 PM on June 29, 2021 [2 favorites]

Are we sure this is a parody? The site looks like it's serious and its Twitter says:

Based on what they've done in the past and the about page on the site, I'm pretty sure its creators are not interested in running a profit-generating, gig-economy startup. I strongly suspect that when you use it, one of them or one of their close friends will personally make the delivery. Note that there's no option to become a driver. Whether a fully functional service that actually does what it claims counts as parody, or as something else, is a deeper question.
posted by eotvos at 9:05 AM on June 30, 2021 [1 favorite]