WEBVTT

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[ Artyom ] Moscow 
has changed massively. 

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It feels like 
we’re in a movie 

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with no ending. 

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There’s a fear of getting coronavirus, 
we wear masks the whole shift. 

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I haven’t got any increase 
in income – fewer tips. 

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In Moscow an average 
courier’s monthly salary is 

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more or less 50,000 roubles. 

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Some clients don’t get 
the idea of contactless delivery. 

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Sometimes they fight about it. 

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If there are no couriers 
it will be chaos.

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[ Artyom Karmanov, delivery guy ] 
Hi there! I’m Artyom. 

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And I’m going to tell you what it’s like to be a 
delivery guy during the coronavirus pandemic in Moscow.

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I’m 22, 

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and I deliver pizzas 
in my own car.

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It’s a new day. Our shift is 
from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. today. 

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There’ll be a lot of 
deliveries to make. 

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I’m about to come up to the manager 
to check our body temperature. 

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He’ll write down all couriers’ 
temperatures in a journal.

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We use gloves to hand 
an order over to a client. 

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The delivery guy that 
drives doesn’t wear gloves. 

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He puts them on when he gets to 
a client and is going to their door 

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to hand an order over to 
a client without contact.

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[ Artyom ] Good evening! 
Dodo Pizza company. Contactless delivery.

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[ Woman ] Thank you! Goodbye! 
[ Artyom ] You’re welcome! 

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[ Artyom ] Bye!

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[ Artyom ] The coronavirus pandemic 
has drastically changed 

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a courier’s daily routine. 

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More orders come in. Some clients 
don’t get the idea of contactless delivery. 

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Sometimes they argue about it. 
They say, “What is this? I don’t want 

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my order to be, 
like, on the floor! 

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Now pick it up 
and hand it over 

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or give back my money”. 

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Such a negative overreaction. 

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But in the end, the order 
has to be cancelled and refunded.

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[ Artyom ] I’m coming back from 
a client whose reaction was a bit mean. 

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I put my delivery 
on a little bench 

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to make it contactless. 

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She said, “Is that really necessary? 
Is there a need to do it? You’re just pissing in the wind.” 

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It surprises me that 
there are still people 

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who don’t understand 
how serious the problem is.

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[ Artyom ] Yeah, I heard that people 
draw parallels between doctors and couriers. 

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Delivery services are in 
higher demand due to the coronavirus. 

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If not for couriers, 
it would be trouble 

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with all these 
queues in stores

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and panic.

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Maintaining the standards of distancing 

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is really hard to control. 

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If there are no couriers 
it will be chaos.

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[ Artyom ] Moscow’s changed 
hugely over this time. 

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Very few people 
in the streets, cars –

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almost no traffic jams. 

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Everybody wears masks, 
and it feels like we’re in a movie 

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with no ending. 

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All public places are closed – 
you don’t even know… For instance, 

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I wanted to buy a pair of glasses 
a few days back, 

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I couldn’t figure out where to go, 
where to check my eyesight. 

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Or where to get my 
car fixed, change the oil.

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[ Artyom ] It starts to rain a little. 

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For a delivery guy, 
that usually means more orders. 

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It’s not a pleasant walk in such 
weather, but a job is a job. 

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But today’s payment will be higher 
and no need to wash the car.

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[ Artyom ] One time I put 
my bag on the bench, 

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knocked on 
the client’s door. 

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She opened it and laughed, 
called her husband to laugh too. 

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Such an inappropriate reaction.

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Another client 
opened the door 

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wearing gloves, a mask, 
holding sanitizer and said, 

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“Please stand a 
few metres back”, 

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even though 
I already was. 

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He sanitised the whole thing 

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and only took 
the order after that. 

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We happen to get such 
mistrustful clients, occasionally. 

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I’ve seen the news that couriers 

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have a higher income 
because of a growing demand. 

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I don’t see that. 

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We have our bonuses retracted, 
order payments lowered, 

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delivery area extended, 
so we use more fuel. 

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We get a lot less tips, because 
clients got tight with money. 

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It’s getting worse and worse. 
And it won’t end anytime soon.

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In Moscow an average 
courier’s monthly salary is 

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more or less 50,000 roubles. 

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I think that’s true. 

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I can say, that I got 
18,500 for the past week, 

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but keep in mind 
the expenses for gas, 

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tax deduction of 4%. 

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Enough to live on though, it’s OK.

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[ Artyom ] If I could stay at home 
self-isolated with some money in my pockets, 

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I probably would. 

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But my situation 
forces me to go to work. 

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I never thought this 
might have happened; 

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I didn’t have any 
financial cushion. 

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I lived from my 
paycheck to paycheck, 

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didn’t give much 
thought to my future. 

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But the situation 
happened so fast 

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I had to adapt, 
adjust myself to it. 

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I think 150,000 
would suffice 

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to have both my 
feet on the ground, 

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to overcome anything. 

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Even if I bought the cheapest food, 
like buckwheat, rice, 

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bread and just 
a little bit of meat, 

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it would last me quite a long time – 
more than six months.

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[ Artyom ] The fear of getting 
infected with coronavirus is there, 

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but the measures 
the company takes like gloves, 

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contactless delivery 

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and sanitizer supplies 
make you feel safe, at least. 

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That makes you feel you 
might make it out uninfected.

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[ Artyom ] The work day is over. 
My feet feel a little tired. 

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I’m happy that our clients 
are kind and understanding. 

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Despite the quarantine 
running to the 30th of April, 

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the clients try 
to tip us something – 

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not as much as it used to be –

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but they tip us, nonetheless.

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[ Artyom ] The day when it all ends, 

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the lockdown 
is declared lifted 

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and coronavirus is gone, we’ll 
get together with our friends for barbecues 

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or we’ll go to some nice place 

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and celebrate life 

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without all these 
epidemics or pandemics.