While app-based motorcycle taxi drivers (locally known as ojek online or ojol for short) have brought convenience to the lives of many Indonesians through the wide array of services they offer, it’s easy to overlook the amount of hard work they have to put in to their jobs — for relatively low pay.
A video that has been making the rounds on social media has shone a light on the harsh and competitive nature of making a living as an ojol. In it, a driver named Darto, believed to be from Cilincing, North Jakarta, was filmed bawling for several minutes after it appeared that his customer just canceled on him.
During the video, the driver told the man who was filming that he hadn’t received an order since that morning. When he finally did, he was asked to front IDR200K (US$14.25) to buy several items for his customer, only for the customer to cancel the order after he made the purchase.
Darto also said that he lives with and provides for his mother and younger sibling, so being cancelled after shelling out a lot of money really hurt. The man who filmed the video tried to console Darto by telling him to look on the bright side as he is now the rightful owner of the goods he bought for the customer, though that didn’t seem to lift the driver’s spirits as he kept on crying until the end of the video.
After the video went viral, many netizens were moved by Darto’s story and wished him well in the future.
https://twitter.com/dektampu/status/1192059922348855296?s=20
Please help, friends, and let me know if you know this man’s contact number. I want to reimburse the money he lost after the customer cancelled. I want to cry myself watching him.
Some were less sympathetic towards Darto, though, as order cancellation works both ways and can also come at the expense of customers, too.
https://twitter.com/Elina_Vay/status/1192029740317544448?s=20
Why must the ojol cry and be filmed like this? Isn’t life full of struggles? I often have [drivers] cancel my order if the distance is too far or the ojol asking me to cancel the order for whatever reason. If you want to cry, do it alone and lean on God. Fortune is obtained.
