I mentioned in my last post that I took a second job to help with paying for IVF and also because supporting two people on my one salary for basically 2 ½ years was financially draining and I’m trying to recover from it and come out on the other side of it in better place.
(And if you’re reading this and want to tell me I shouldn’t have a baby if I can’t support 2 people on my one salary because babies are expensive, don’t. This is different. Because knowing you’re going to support 2 humans on one salary is a lot different than doing it when someone lies to you about having a job and about money coming in and forcing you to take loans to just pay the bills with all sorts of promises of money coming when nope. There was never any money coming.)
(He’s still been telling me that he is going to pay me back, for several weeks now, and I have yet to see a dime. Because he’s a pathological liar. He cannot. Stop. Lying.)
Anyway, I took a second job. I should have done this months (if not years) ago, but again, promises about the money coming made it seem unnecessary. But almost the minute we broke up, I knew I needed to find more income. And with trying to get pregnant, I wasn’t sure switching jobs was the right choice at this stage.
I decided to check out working for Instacart as an in-store shopper. Funnily enough, the idea came from the lying liar, who had told me in those times he was without a job, was working for Instacart doing deliveries. I’ve since learned this was all a lie as well.
If you’re unfamiliar with Instacart, it’s basically paying someone to grocery shop for you and deliver your groceries to your door. It’s similar to Peapod, but the people actually shop in your local store, as opposed to a giant warehouse (which I think is how Peapod works).
So that’s what I do! I’m an in-store shopper because I don’t have a car so I can’t do deliveries. I spend my weekends shopping for other people’s groceries. It’s not a bad gig and it pays decent. I have used Instacart in the past when I didn’t feel like grocery shopping and figured I could do it. I don’t mind grocery shopping and I think I’m pretty good and picking out replacements, etc.
When I signed up, I signed up for a store kind of close to my house. But, it hadn’t become an Instacart store yet. So while we waited for it to get up and running, I was assigned to another store. Two months later, I’m still at this store.
It’s not that big of a deal, except it’s not super close to my house. So it’s like a $12 Uber ride to and from. And I can take the bus and train, but a lot of times I’m fucking exhausted, or it is late, so Uber is easier.
The other thing about this store is that is it TINY. Like barely fit two carts down the aisles, tiny. Which isn’t that big of a deal if you’re in there just shopping for yourself in your free time. But I’m not. I’m shopping and being timed. And we have to do orders in a certain amount of time. So not being able to navigate the store is really shitty sometimes.
And here, in no particular order, are the things I now I hate about grocery stores and make me wish we could shop at a warehouse that only we were in so we didn’t have to deal with idiots:
- Those giant carts that you use for your children, with the cars on them. These things are a MENACE. They are too big and I can’t get past you.
- Those small little “shopper in training” carts that people let their children push around a CROWDED GROCERY STORE. People. No. Stop doing this. If it is a Monday morning and the store is empty? Have a ball! But on a Saturday afternoon when the lines for the checkout are literally the length of the store? NO.
- I shop at a store that has a bar and serves alcohol. I’ve had drinks at this grocery store chain before. It’s kind of amazing. Until you’re working as a timed shopper and these assholes with their drinks are just meandering throughout the store and leaving their carts in the middle of the aisles. Booze and grocery shopping DO NOT MIX.
- Millennials. They grocery shop in packs! Why do you need to do your weekly grocery shopping with 5 of your friends? WHY?? And these groups of people then also hit up the bar and then walk 5-wide through the aisles with no regard to anyone else around them. GET OUT OF MY WAY!
People also assume I work for the store. Which is odd because I’m in a lime green Instacart shirt and not a shirt that says “NAME OF GROCERY STORE” on it. I’m usually as helpful as I can be, as long as they are nice. The rude people get an “I don’t actually work here” response.
The good thing is that it is usually busy. And in fact, when it’s not, it sucks. Because you’re just sitting. If I’m going to be there, I’d actually prefer shopping. (I had a shift last week that in 4 hours, I only had 3 orders and my ass was sore from sitting so long.)
But it brings in money weekly and it’s helping me get a handle on my finances, so I’m happy about it. Even if I end up looking like this in the grocery store: