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Just went through replies to woman who complained about men Instacart shoppers. Men were big mad, tried to make her out as hating gig workers despite her orders being consistently wrong when shopped by men. I feel like this is not isolated problem, has been on the TL before.
Since the pandemic hit, we've ordered groceries, as have our neighbors. We're all moms and can tell the difference between our orders being shopped by women or by men. Anecdotally, we've found women shoppers message/call when they're not sure about replacements. Men? Nah.
Women picked out replacements that made sense. Men would substitute just about anything to get the order complete. Think pizza Lunchables (pizza kit, snack & drink) being replaced by five bags of frozen pizza rolls. Yes, you read that right - five bags.
When contacted about substitutions while shopping, the women shoppers appreciated the direction, were usually friendly and helpful. My neighbor called one man shopping her order to say the substitution wouldn't work because of allergies. His reply: You can return them.
There was also the one time a man Instacart shopper made 'joke' about not wanting to sneak in from behind, at least without lube, about coming to side porch close to back of townhouse. Did I mention he was with his girlfriend?
I would also be remiss if I didn't add times the women, including myself, were hit on by men Instacart shoppers, including one who joked he knew where she lived and that she was alone with kids all day.
Are all men Instacart shoppers bad? No. However, issues with them keep coming up from women all over the place, so it's a problem. Stop attacking women for pointing out the problem, focus on teaching these men to shop and to not be gross to people using the service.
