Weaponized incompetence occurs in the home when someone (usually a man) pretends to not know how to do something so the other person can do it for them. But as common this might be for household chores and childcare, weaponized incompetence in the gig economy is unusually rife. This is why TikToker Mizelle Mulder (@mizellemulder) was left baffled by the amount of items her Instacart shopper substituted in her order.
She shared her experience as part of a TikTok stitch in which a creator pointed out “if you get a male shopper on Instacart you’re pretty much f***ed.”
According to Mulder, who ordered a number of groceries including carrots, two oven pizzas, and chopped onions, she was told that only the carrots and chopped onion were being substituted. She was told the chopped onion was being substituted for a whole onion, which she said she rejected “within one minute.”
However, when her order arrived, several items were missing, she was given the onion anyway, and instead of oven pizza, was provided with 12 completely different TV dinners.
“So, thank you,” she added sarcastically, before writing in the TikTok description, “Make it make sense!”
In the comments, at least, people seemed sympathetic to Mizelle’s plight, as several shared their own bizarre Instacart substitutions.
“I had a man disregard all of my feminine hygiene products,” one shared. “I heard one woman say she ordered tampons and her male shopper substituted it for toothpicks,” another echoed.
Meanwhile, a third shared how their Instacart shopper didn’t just replace pepparmint with pepparmint oil, but was given the store tester bottle.
Current and former Instacart shoppers also shared insights into how the substition process works, which made Mizelle’s issue seem all the more bizarre.
“I’ve been an Instacart shopper and it asks you like THREE TIMES to substitute when you grab the wrong thing,” one revealed. “They know they’re wrong, they just don’t care.”
@mizellemulder #stitch with @matt bellassai #greenscreen make it make sense #maleinstacartshopper #instacartshopper #instacartstorytime ♬ Quirky Suspenseful Indie-Comedy(1115050) – Kenji Ueda
This isn’t the first time Instacart workers have made strange substitutions, with TikToker Mariam (@lowmariam) going viral going viral after her male Instacart shopper substituted her lemon for a kiwi.
Mulder didn’t immediately respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment via email contact form.