During the pandemic I relied on Instacart a lot when the world was closed and everybody was scared of the ‘rona. Now that we’re slowly creeping back to normal, I’ll go inside the store on days when I think there isn’t a crowd. But every now and then, when I get lazy (especially if it’s raining), I’ll fall into my old Instacart shopping ways. Now I hate to pull gender into things, but based on empirical research (basically, me ranting), I’ve concluded that women Instacart shoppers are a blessing sent down from the heavens above. I ALWAYS end up getting young men, and while they are very nice (bless their hearts), let’s be honest… they don’t care “nathan” about what they throw in that shopping cart! 🥴 I mean, I love the fact that they’re working and getting their hustle on, but if grocery shopping is not your ministry (if no one has ever told you “wow, you did that!” when unloading the bags into the fridge), then let’s find you another gig, okay love? When I see a dude’s name as my shopper, I just sit down with my phone so I can keep the chat open, ask questions and tell him what to replace. But it’s not hard to believe, right? Think about the times you’ve sent your teenage son to the grocery store. Pretty much the same. 🤷🏽♀️ I’ve gotten wilted produce, wrong items and I can’t count how many times I’ve seen “Alphonso has refunded your item” without even an attempt for a replacement. Really, Alphonso? There are no apples in the entire store? Could you at least ask me if I want Granny Smith instead of Golden Delicious?
So when I got an alert that said “Shanika has started shopping for your items”, I let out a little scream. Could it be? I only had a woman to shop maybe one other time, and she was a dream come true. Well, I must have been living right because the grocery shopping stars aligned once again. I saw her profile pic and she introduced herself in the chat. I admit, I was still somewhat nervous and kept my phone in my hand. About 5 minutes pass by and no alerts… just items moved to the bottom as “shopped”. Okay, okay… I see you, queen. Then about 10 minutes Iater, I got a chat from her saying the store didn’t have the brand of romaine lettuce I wanted. So she took a pic of the replacement she had ALREADY CHOSEN and posted it in the chat. It was perfect, and I thanked her. Then about 5 minutes later, she couldn’t find the flax seeds I ordered. Not a big deal. It’s not like that was a common item. But instead of refunding, I saw something I’ve never seen before: “Shanika is asking the store if this item is in the back.” Baby, I raised up my hands in praise because she did more than I would have done. And yes, the store had them!
I had gotten so comfortable with Shanika that I went ahead and put my phone down. I had started cleaning up the kitchen and actually forgot about Instacart. Next thing I know, my phone rang, and it was an out-of-state number. I said if this is a telemarketer calling me on a Sunday afternoon, I’m about to answer it for the primary reason of showing out. Y’all, it was Shanika. She said she was just calling to see if I got her chat about the body wash I wanted not being in stock, so she started reading me all the other scents they had available. Glllooooorrryyyyy.
And to top it all off, when the groceries were delivered, this angel had bagged up the produce so perfectly I wanted to hug her. You know how the grapes are already in a bag with the little zip lock that’s always broken? She put that bag over in a produce bag and tied it at the top so the loose grapes at the bottom wouldn’t fall out. I think it was at this point that I shouted unto God with a voice of triumph! 🙌🏾 Needless to say, I gave her a perfect rating and tip.
So if anybody out there knows Shanika, my new Instacart bae, drop some extra coins in her CashApp and tell her I prayed that the Lord would bless her indeed and enlarge her territory! Because it’s only a matter of time before I see “Ricardo has started shopping for your items.” 😩