Errand

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Girl on an errand picking up something from a store. SAKURAKO goes on an errand to the store. (27880377846).jpg
Girl on an errand picking up something from a store.

An errand is a task of no great consequence, typically concerning household or business affairs, which requires the person undertaking it to travel to a place where it can be accomplished. The activity of undertaking this task is called running an errand, while a series of such tasks undertaken in a single outing is called errand-running or running errands.

Contents

Definitions

An "errand" can include delivering a message, for which reason an 1871 dictionary of synonyms described a message as synonymous with an errand, while allowing that an errand can be something other than a message:

ERRAND (A. S. ærende, ærend, messenger) is an object for which one goes somewhere, or is sent by another. If the object be to communicate with another in words, then the errand is so far a message. But the errand may be not of this kind, as an errand to buy something at the market. ... An errand is an act; a message is a thing of words. [1]

In employment

Errand Girl, a 19th century painting by Henri Evenepoel Henri Evenepoel - Het loopmeisje.JPG
Errand Girl, a 19th century painting by Henri Evenepoel

Historically, people with more wealth or power would hire a person, typically called an errand boy or errand girl, to perform these tasks for them. The modern term for such a person is gofer (derived from the phrase go for).

In more modern times, an employer or supervisor with employees having specified job functions may be subject to legal consequences if the employer requires the employee to perform errands that are not part of their job. For this purpose, errands may be divided between those that are work-related, and those that are personal errands. A business owner or employee may also be subject to consequences for using company time or property to engage in personal errands. The liability of an employer for an injury caused by an employee departing from work-related activities to run an errand is addressed by the law of frolic and detour, under which the employer remains liable of the departure is minor. [2] [3]

A 1909 report on the English Poor Laws noted that "the most hopeless position is that of the errand boy at a small shop in a poor neighborhood", for whom "prospects are absolutely nil". [4] The report further noted that those employed as errand boys were unlikely to pick up any additional skills useful in a trade. [4]

In more recent times, some errand-running functions have been assumed by gig economy businesses that will run typical errands, such as "donation drop offs, returns, shopping, random pickups/drop offs, pharmacy runs, and food pick ups" for a small fee. [5]

Cultural significance

The running of errands may have some specific cultural significance.

The Japanese television series Old Enough! (Japanese : はじめてのおつかい, romanized: Hajimete no Otsukai, lit. 'My First Errand') depicts, in a documentary manner, the efforts of toddlers going on an errand on their ownbuying groceries, delivering packagesaccompanied by the camera crew. The program highlights the Japanese cultural practice of sending small children to run errands as a means of increasing their sense of independence, [6] and has been distributed internationally since 2022 on Netflix. [7] [8] Most of the children who try to perform errands are between 3 and 6 years old (nursery school children and kindergarteners), but in rare cases, children as young as 1 or 2 years old have also participated. Since the parents basically do not provide notes, but only verbally tell their children what they want, there are many cases where children forget to buy items for the errands or make a mistake. [6]

A fool's errand prank is a type of practical joke played in many parts of the world, where a newcomer to a group, typically in a workplace context, is given an impossible or nonsensical task by older or more experienced members of the group. A common fool's errand is to send someone to get "blinker fluid" or "turn-signal fluid" from an automotive parts store. [9] [10] More generally, a fool's errand is a task almost certain to fail. [11]

Errand paralysis

Sufficiently severe anxiety can render a person unable to run even simple errands, for which the term "errand paralysis" has been coined. [12] This is particularly the case where an individual allows a large number of small errands to accumulate, so that the collective work to be done becomes substantial.

Related Research Articles

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In the United States, a 401(k) plan is an employer-sponsored, defined-contribution, personal pension (savings) account, as defined in subsection 401(k) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Periodic employee contributions come directly out of their paychecks, and may be matched by the employer. This legal option is what makes 401(k) plans attractive to employees, and many employers offer this option to their (full-time) workers. 401(k) payable is a general ledger account that contains the amount of 401(k) plan pension payments that an employer has an obligation to remit to a pension plan administrator. This account is classified as a payroll liability, since the amount owed should be paid within one year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pension</span> Retirement fund

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Text messaging</span> Act of typing and sending a brief, digital message

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salary</span> Form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee

A salary is a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee, which may be specified in an employment contract. It is contrasted with piece wages, where each job, hour or other unit is paid separately, rather than on a periodic basis. Salary can also be considered as the cost of hiring and keeping human resources for corporate operations, and is hence referred to as personnel expense or salary expense. In accounting, salaries are recorded in payroll accounts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recruitment</span> Process of attracting, selecting and appointing candidates to a job or other organization

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In law, liable means "responsible or answerable in law; legally obligated". Legal liability concerns both civil law and criminal law and can arise from various areas of law, such as contracts, torts, taxes, or fines given by government agencies. The claimant is the one who seeks to establish, or prove, liability.

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Vicarious liability is a form of a strict, secondary liability that arises under the common law doctrine of agency, respondeat superior, the responsibility of the superior for the acts of their subordinate or, in a broader sense, the responsibility of any third party that had the "right, ability or duty to control" the activities of a violator. It can be distinguished from contributory liability, another form of secondary liability, which is rooted in the tort theory of enterprise liability because, unlike contributory infringement, knowledge is not an element of vicarious liability. The law has developed the view that some relationships by their nature require the person who engages others to accept responsibility for the wrongdoing of those others. The most important such relationship for practical purposes is that of employer and employee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Etiquette in Japan</span> Overview of etiquette in Japan

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Email spoofing is the creation of email messages with a forged sender address. The term applies to email purporting to be from an address which is not actually the sender's; mail sent in reply to that address may bounce or be delivered to an unrelated party whose identity has been faked. Disposable email address or "masked" email is a different topic, providing a masked email address that is not the user's normal address, which is not disclosed, but forwards mail sent to it to the user's real address.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Personal assistant</span> Job title

A personal assistant, also referred to as personal aide (PA) or personal secretary (PS), is a job title describing a person who assists a specific person with their daily business or personal task. It is a subspecialty of secretarial duties.

A workplace is a location where someone works, for their employer or themselves, a place of employment. Such a place can range from a home office to a large office building or factory. For industrialized societies, the workplace is one of the most important social spaces other than the home, constituting "a central concept for several entities: the worker and [their] family, the employing organization, the customers of the organization, and the society as a whole". The development of new communication technologies has led to the development of the virtual workplace and remote work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">April Fools' Day</span> Annual celebration on 1 April

April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved with these pranks, which may be revealed as such the following day. The custom of setting aside a day for playing harmless pranks upon one's neighbour has been relatively common in the world historically.

Vehicle leasing is the leasing of a motor vehicle for a fixed period of time at an agreed amount of money for the lease. It is commonly offered by dealers as an alternative to vehicle purchase but is widely used by businesses as a method of acquiring vehicles for business, without the usually needed cash outlay. The key difference in a lease is that after the primary term the vehicle has to either be returned to the leasing company or purchased for the residual value.

Compensation and benefits (C&B) is a sub-discipline of human resources, focused on employee compensation and benefits policy-making. While compensation and benefits are tangible, there are intangible rewards such as recognition, work-life and development. Combined, these are referred to as total rewards. The term "compensation and benefits" refers to the discipline as well as the rewards themselves.

Workplace communication is the process of exchanging information and wisdom, both verbal and non-verbal between one person/group and another person/group within an organization. It includes e-mails, text messages, notes, calls, etc. Effective communication is critical in getting the job done, as well as building a sense of trust and increasing the productivity of employees. These may have different cultures and backgrounds, and can be used to different norms. To unite activities of all employees and restrain from any missed deadline or activity that could affect the company negatively, communication is crucial. Effective workplace communication ensures that all the organizational objectives are achieved. Workplace communication is tremendously important to organizations because it increases productivity and efficiency. Ineffective workplace communication leads to communication gaps between employees, which causes confusion, wastes time, and reduces productivity. Misunderstandings that cause friction between people can be avoided by effective workplace communication. Effective communication, also called open communication, prevents barriers from forming among individuals within companies that might impede progress in striving to reach a common goal. For businesses to function as desired, managers and lower-level employees must be able to interact clearly and effectively with each other through verbal communication and non-verbal communication to achieve specific business goals. Effective communication with clients plays a vital role in development of an organization and success of any business. When communicating, nonverbal communication must also be taken into consideration. How a person delivers a message has a lot of influence on the meaning of this one.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fool's errand</span> Type of practical joke

A fool's errand prank is a type of practical joke where a newcomer to a group, typically in a workplace context, is given an impossible or nonsensical task by older or more experienced members of the group. More generally, a fool's errand is a task almost certain to fail.

Old Enough! is a Japanese reality show that has been aired irregularly since 1991 on Nippon Television. The program depicts, in a documentary manner, the efforts of toddlers going on an errand on their own—buying groceries, delivering packages—accompanied by the camera crew. The program has been distributed internationally since 2022 on Netflix.

References

  1. Charles John Smith, Synonyms Discriminated: A Complete Catalogue of Synonymous Words in the English Language (1871), p. 297.
  2. RPC (May 30, 2012). "Vicarious liability – what is a "frolic" anyway?". Lexology. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  3. "Are your employees off on a frolic of their own?". www.blclaims.co.uk. 20 February 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  4. 1 2 Report on Boy Labour in London and Other Typical Towns (1909) p. 20.
  5. Jardine, Savvy (April 4, 2023). "Say goodbye to to-do lists and hello to more free time with Errand". ABC4 Utah .
  6. 1 2 Ueno, Hisako; Ives, Mike (April 22, 2022). "Can Toddlers Cross the Street Alone? Yes, on Reality TV in Japan". The New York Times .
  7. Grabar, Henry (2022-04-11). "How Japan Built Cities Where You Could Send Your Toddler on an Errand". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2022-04-12.
  8. St. Michel, Patrick (2022-04-12). "Surprise Netflix hit 'Old Enough!' proves Japanese TV is good enough for Western viewers". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2022-04-12.
  9. "Here's How Actual 'Blinker Fluid' Could Work". Jalopnik. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  10. Megargee, Jeremy; Bondoni, Gustavo; Kirby, Oscar; Lubaczewski, Paul; Harrison, Kev; Kolb, Lukas; Bain, Ian; Booth, Die; Striker, J. M. (2019). Creeping Corruption Anthology. Madness Heart Press. ISBN   978-1-7906-4476-6.
  11. Merriam-Webster Dictionary: "a needless or profitless endeavor." Cambridge Dictionary: "an effort that is unlikely to be successful".
  12. Gray, Chloe (August 26, 2019). "Errand paralysis: How burnout stops us getting things done". Stylist.