It’s safe to say many people are divided over the use of delivery drones. Walmart is currently using them in several states, including Texas. Though the idea sounds like a cool, modern way to receive groceries quickly, it also comes with its issues. The first problem that pops into my head is imagining an army of drones zipping around with heavy packages and potentially hurting someone. Unfortunately, not everyone goes there immediately. When a Texas couple received their first drone delivery and were excited about it, TikTok was divided, naturally.
TikToker Milly shared her video on TikTok, showing her and her husband outside in their yard. Meanwhile, a Walmart drone flies overhead. According to Molly, who seems completely perplexed by the idea, “We are the Jetsons now,” as the drone slowly lowers a small package of groceries to the ground until the Zipline machine lands in the grass of their backyard. It drops off a little package, then quickly ascends back to the drone.
I’m sure if any neighbors were watching, they’d be amazed, too. Molly says they “never DoorDashed” before, but now they’re official Zipline users. As she states in her video, “I’m hooked!”
As interesting as the technology is, what exactly is the point of it? Going from horse-and-buggies to cars made sense because it was a better system. What does having drones flying about do for anyone, other than fill the skies with plastic? Delivery vehicles, both big and small, already do that, and there’s plenty of room for improvement.
That’s besides the point, though. The biggest question is why Walmart would do this in the first place. Its employees already fight hard enough to protect their rights, with hour cuts leaving them without insurance and unfair pay that keeps them from having everyday lives. In fact, Walmart is among several businesses, including Amazon and McDonald’s, with the highest number of SNAP recipients, despite being multi-billion dollar companies—trillions, in the case of Amazon.
“Walmart got money to have drones but not enough to pay their employees so they don’t need foodstamps. Interesting,” said one commenter. That is interesting, isn’t it? How is it any different than getting a government subsidy?
“I rather have human contact to keep people employed,” another argued, and it’s a fair point. At least when it comes to music and art, the human touch is essential. Maybe drones delivering packages will be useful in the future, but the lack of social safety nets to make up for job losses in the US sounds more important than getting my tasty treats sooner.
