10 Items or Less: Keeping Busy After Retirement

The Instacart community is as diverse as the items in the grocery store — every day, tens of thousands of individuals shop, deliver, and become an extension of people’s households. We want to share this community’s stories, highlighting Instacart shoppers, shift leads, and site managers all across North America. 10 Items or Less is a series featuring just some of the amazing members of the Instacart community, sharing their unique experiences and secret sauce with the world.

1. What’s your name, and where are you from? I’m Matthew, from Queens, New York.
2. How long have you been shopping with Instacart? I’ve been a full-service shopper since May 2021.
3. When and why did you decide to start shopping with Instacart? I decided in December 2020 that I would investigate and sign up to shop with Instacart, so I’d have something lined up to do after I retired. I knew I was going to be retiring from the New York City Transit Authority in early 2021 and I wanted to have something to keep me busy.
4. What’s your favorite thing about shopping with Instacart? It’s like there’s money waiting outside for me to just go out and take it. 
5. What 3 items are always in your personal shopping cart? My wife is vegan, so there are always vegetables. Avocados, kalamata olives, and bananas.
6. What’s a fun fact that would surprise us about you? I have an identical twin brother. 
7. What’s your “side dish” — a hobby, a hidden talent, another job you do on the side? I’m a singer and songwriter. I sing seven or eight times a month in Nursing Homes/Assisted Living Residences.
8. What’s one piece of guidance or encouragement you would give to the shopper community? Get all your “certificates” (like alcohol training, etc.) so you have a full complement of batches to choose from.