Shall I Stay or Shall I Go

Diary of a Delivery Rider

Written by: Tab

Tab is the pen name of a delivery rider whose story forms the core of the book. "T.A.B." is made up of the initials of someone important in his life.

Compiled & edited, with an introduction by: Hsiao-Hung Pai

Proofread by: Panos Theodoropoulos

Photography by: Giannis Sdoukos and Raymond (Revmond) Sdoukos

Publication date to be confirmed

"We, the Arabs and the Blacks, are not here by chance. Every arrival has its departure," Tab hums along to his favourite rapper on his motorbike, speeding from Stepney Green to Croydon. Whatever the distance, he delivers. Whether in normal times amidst the bustle, or during a pandemic when the metropolis shuts down into a ghost town, Tab is there, on his bike. The steady trickle of rewards will eventually grow into the resources needed for his dream in the near future, he hopes. But the dream remains deferred, as the promised outcome of the job can never be delivered. In fact, it displays itself as a deceitful illusion.

Tab's diary encapsulates the story of tens of thousands of delivery riders working to make ends meet, only to make their employers richer. At the core we see a system that masks the relentless pursuit of profit under the guise of individual choice and freedom. A system that racialises those who cross borders to work, who make up the majority of this workforce.

Meanwhile, Tab's diary reveals fantasies of resistance and identifies ways for the workers to challenge the injustices of their everyday working lives. It invites us to imagine ways to fight back.