TikTokers Are Starting To Complain About Male Instacart Drivers, Leading To Discussions On Class And Gender

Discussions of gender and class have taken center stage online after several TikTokers tried their hand at "men be like / women be like" comedy with regards to the gender of Instacart delivery people.

In late March, TikToker @_itsjamila posted a video explaining how she will always cancel her order on the grocery app Instacart if she discovers her delivery person is a man. According to @_itsjamila, a woman delivery person will always go above and beyond to make sure the order is accurate and perhaps even better than what was originally ordered, while a male Instacart delivery person will always be inept at finding and packing the groceries.

The TikTok went viral in late April, netting Jamila Bell a Buzzfeed interview and spawning several more riffs on the topic.

Things started getting saucy when Twitter user Timerube found one such video and commented "i hate when my underpaid gig slave is a MAN."

i hate when my underpaid gig slave is a MAN 🙄 pic.twitter.com/aFaIAIOre9

— Dirk Fuckner ☔️ (@timerube) May 3, 2022

From there, a wave of memes and commentary about whether or not people are justified in complaining about male Instacart shoppers for screwing up orders, with many arguing that it's unfair to generalize an entire gender of gig workers.

I know everyone’s talking about the “men don’t delivery my instacart groceries right” lady but cases like those really show how people can find a ‘woke’ way to be cruel and take advantage of it in order to ensure their desire to be cruel doesn’t weigh on their conscience

— ً (@Liv_Agar) May 5, 2022

me at the grocery store when i'm instacart shopping for a woman pic.twitter.com/LVAzWbvKjN

— 𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓲𝓭𝓾𝓪𝓵𐄭𝓮𝓷𝓮𝓻𝓰𝔂𐄭𝓫𝓸𝓼𝓼 (@dj_laundryy) May 5, 2022

It seems like the conflict will fizzle out with no resolution, as these types of controversies tend to do, but know that if you are personally frustrated with incorrect Instacart orders, it is possible to take a trip to the grocery store yourself.

i asked my instacart delivery man to link the first flame in order to prolong the age of fire and succeed gwyn lord of cinder but he ushered in the age of dark >_< why are men!

— Shasti (@sh44sti) May 5, 2022

My Instacart shopper has just picked the wrong ice cream flavor – his shock collar goes off, informing him of the mistake. I will not be paying him. I'm a good person. I'm a good person

— atrophy wife 🎀 (@zuza_real) May 5, 2022

I actually think the “complaining about an annoying thing a gig worker did makes you worse than hitler” crowd is out of hand but it’s good to know that people can get totally bonkers in the opposite direction, too.

— sarah kelly (@thesarahkelly) May 5, 2022