不止于一餐饭：外卖扮演的角色

是一餐饭，却又不仅仅是一餐饭。作为日常生活的一部分，外卖对不同年龄段、不同社会身份的人而言，到底意味着什么？外卖在我们的生活中究竟扮演着怎样的角色？

番茄炒蛋

女，20岁，广州，大学生

不敢想象没有外卖的日子

对我来说，外卖是生活中不可缺少的一部分。综合算下来，吃外卖的次数不比去食堂少。就拿我们宿舍来说，六个人里，每天都有四五个人的饮食以外卖为主。这主要是因为下课去食堂排队太耽误时间了，点外卖则不同，在快下课时下单，等步行到宿舍门口时，外卖差不多也送到了，方便又高效，让人怎能不喜欢呢？遇到天气不好或者当天没课只想“犯懒”不出门的情况，点外卖就更是不二之选了。除此之外，由于要和食堂竞争，大学周边的外卖价格通常不会太高，菜式和口味也比较多样，这让我们的幸福指数持续上升。我们也会时不时地点一些清淡的品类来调剂胃口，兼顾“养生”需求。真不敢想象没有外卖的日子该怎么过。

流星

女，25岁，北京，新媒体运营

外卖也能传递爱与关怀

外卖可不是年轻人专属。我的奶奶已经80多岁了，她最先学会的网购技能就是点外卖。当然，这也得益于外卖App的不断改进——针对老年人的日常需求，提供适老化帮助，使用起来也友好。有需求的时候，奶奶只要打开外卖软件，对手机说出想要吃的东西、“下单”等指令，就能完成交易。有时候，我们这些后辈也会帮奶奶下单，买一些新鲜又美味的餐食给她送过去，省去了奶奶自己买菜、做饭的辛劳。更棒的是，实在不便去看望爷爷奶奶时，我们还可以借点外卖的机会，让配送员代为问候，顺便帮忙看看他们的状态。当然，这只是无奈之举，最好的爱与关怀，永远是回家看望。

Charlotte

30-year-old， live in Auckland writer

Takeaways liberate females from the repetitive housework cooking

Long before the pandemic， takeaways， fast foodespecially， have drawn reactions ranging from delightto prejudice. But as we emerge from the strictestlockdown level， in a world of pervasive uncertainty，they assume an even greater symbolic weight.

Curries， Big Macs， bubble tea or whatever else isin your takeaway order represent something far morecomplex than these perceived assumptions of lazinessor supposed unhealthy eating habits.

In a world of pervasive uncertainty， they'resymbols of the potential of returning to normality. Itis a small ritual comfort to be hold onto when almostevery single waking moment feels overwhelming.And for many， not least parents， takeaways mean notjust a reacquaintance with normality， but a respitefrom weeks-long ennui. After more than a month ofbalancing their full-time jobs with full-time childcare，takeaways offer some respite from one of the mostrepetitive domestic tasks： cooking. That is unpaid， andtypically female， labor.

疫情之前，大家对外卖褒贬不一。但是在如今这个充满不确定性的世界里，外卖有着非常重要的象征意义。它并非意味着“懒惰”或“不健康”，相反，外卖代表着某种正常的生活秩序。对许多人尤其是父母来说，点外卖还意味着可以得到喘息的机会。对既要带娃又要工作的女性来说，外卖将她们从做饭这项免费、重复的家务劳动中解放了出来。

Bun Leng

41-year-old， live in New Zealand takeaway owner

The takeaway restaurant leads my family to a better life

My family came from Cambodia to New Zealandin 1980. In 2011， I took over our family-run takeawayshop passed from my dad. At the time I was an aspiringteacher， but opted to take on my dad's business mostlyfor sentimental reasons. I thought it would be reallycool to keep it in the family， and I guess I just kindof have fallen into it since then. I didn't spend a centthe first few years and was paying myself $600 [whileworking] 70 hours per week because that's all the shopcould afford.

But over time I was able to put my own stamp onthe restaurant and as a result I have tripled the store'srevenue， gifted my parents a world trip and bought aninvestment property. The social media is a significantreason for the success， and it's also proven a majorfactor in building the restaurant's profile during theprevious lockdowns. Every day I'm getting peoplemessaging saying how much they love my posts andhow they will be coming to our shop when lockdownlifts.

1980年，我們一家从柬埔寨来到新西兰。2011年，我接手了父亲的事业——经营一家外卖店。最初几年，我省吃俭用，每周工作70小时，只给自己开600美元的薪水，这是这家店能负担得起的全部费用了。后来，在社交媒体的助力下，店铺的收入提升到了原来的三倍，我送父母去环球旅行，还买了一处投资物业。外卖店让我和我的家人都过上了更好的生活。