i think this is a case where the language you used only served to make the relatively simple points in your essay inaccessible. like seriously, who uses 'sobriquet' instead of 'nickname', and how is there any gain in descriptive power from it?
There is little doubt that there are inequities, frustrations, and imbalances beyond number bound up in the figure of the bike messenger, but I despair to think what cities would be without the specific quality of their exertions.
i despair to think that they would probably not be much different