Cartels and Death Threats: The Dangers Being an Instacart Driver in Florida

Being an Instacart driver might seem like a safe and easy gig. I can work when I want to or hang around the snack isle at my favorite Cape Coral publix. However, lurking beneath the convenience and seemingly mundane grocery lists is a potential world of danger. And not just the temptation of all the extra snacking either.

One second you're cruising down a street in Golden Gates, grocery bags neatly arranged in your car, when suddenly, a stranger decides to hop into your vehicle uninvited. That actually just happened to an unsuspecting Instacart driver. Now, I know ride-sharing apps have made getting into strangers' cars somewhat acceptable, but this was a grocery delivery.

The unwanted passenger, According to NBC2, was identified as Charles Bertranou. He claimed to be with the cartel and casually dropped a threat to kill the Instacart driver. This poor diver's latest gig wasn't just bizarre but downright threatening.

Now, in the world of Instacart deliveries, a claim of cartel affiliation and a death threat isn't exactly the kind of tip I would hope to receive. Luckily the Collier County deputies showed up just as Bertranou continued outside the car, shouting typical lunatic stuff.

The cops demanded Bertranou show his hands, he not only refused but also managed to shake off a jolt from a taser like it was nothing. Great. Just what you need to deal with, a super powered lunatic. Unfortunately, this is when the suspect decided to make a run for it. That's when  a good old-fashioned chase was on.

After a punch in the nose to one of the deputies, the insane super-nut was tackled and arrested. All in a days work. The very act of being an Instacart driver requires interacting with an assortment of strangers, and not everyone has the friendliest intentions. From agitated customers upset about the wrong brand of kale to potential taser immune cartel members. You just never know what the next gig might bring.

It's a reminder that in the gig economy, even the most  ordinary jobs can come with a side of unpredictability and, at times, real danger. As for me? I'll stick with hosting Karaoke. The only scary thing I have to worry about is the singing.

It's the holiday season and there's one thing we probably all have in common. We spent more than we should have and ran up the credit cards. Another thing coming up on Florida homeowners is when the mortgage company factors in the much higher insurance premiums into your monthly mortgage payment. My 'escrow' part of my mortgage payment is higher than my principle and interest combined. If you're a renter, you may have already been hit with a rent increase to start the new year. With all these bills increasing, we're going to need some Southwest Florida side hustles to help. We're going to need to find a way to make some more money.

There's plenty of resources online for side hustles on sites like gobankingrates, CNBC, and others, but those are more on a national level. I wanted a list that was more specific to those in Florida, and more specifically, Southwest Florida. I've compiled 10 different ideas that work for us. In some cases, I've even added a story of someone already doing it. This isn't a list of how to find a different job. It's some ideas on ways to find another job. I've even included one of my side hustles onto this list. We're all just trying to get by. Myself included.

There's so many things to do in this town that fall outside the realm of a 'regular job.' Remember back during COVID and people were lining up at Hammond Stadium to get jabbed? People working at those booths were doing it as a side job. There's a lot of Southwest Florida side hustles if you keep your eyes open and be open to new adventures.

And this is not definitive. Treat this more as an idea starter. If you can come up with a niche that no one else is doing, your side hustle could out earn your main job. But a basic rule to remember, don't focus so much on your side job that you jeopardize your main job.

There's one thing very clear that's going on in Southwest Florida. This town can not get enough storage units. Whatever part of town you're in, you probably drive past a construction site where a new one is being built. It's the nature of this town. Our houses don't have basements, and most lack closet space. So, you can either fill your garage, or you can get a storage unit. But what happens when someone dies or other circumstances causes the unit to go unpaid and then  into default? The unit is auctioned off.

Checking out the site storageauctions.com shows units in Port Charlotte and North Fort Myers currently for sale. If you're good at selling used stuff on places like facebook marketplace, this side hustle may be for you. Check out a few episodes of "Storage Wars" and see if this might work for you.

This one is not just for the elderly, many locals are having their groceries delivered to save time. Someone has to do it, and if you don't mind going to Publix and picking up some items for someone else, maybe you could give this a shot. Bigger orders = bigger pay. I personally prefer this to driving Uber. I don't know how ya'll Uber drivers do it, the pay just seems so low. I took an Uber from the Bell Tower to my house in Estero and it was $15. After commissions, the driver gets about $12. That's why I always max tip my Uber drivers. One big car maintenance bill and you're back to 0.

This one's a lot trickier and if you do it wrong you could make your financial circumstances worse, but I wanted to mention it. You'll need to do a lot of research and even then you may still lose money. One popular lower risk strategy is known as The Wheel. It's a fairly simple strategy that works well when the overall stock market drifts sideways. Which it has been. Despite the large recent run up, the S&P 500 is almost exactly where it was in January of 2022.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/option.asp

There are a lot of older folks here in town that have trouble getting around. And twice that many that probably shouldn't be driving. You could be the one to help run errands or do some simple tasks, for a fee. I don't have much information on this so you'll need to build this business on your own. But you have to believe there's a demand for this here in SWFL. This tweet is from an older listing on Zip Recruiter, but it could get you started.

Super passive income here. You create a design, put it on Etsy, then make a little bit of money for each one that is sold. Need some ideas on where to start? Find them here. And if you're not sure you have the knack for creating something that others will pay for, play around on Canva and you'll see just how easy it is.

https://www.etsy.com/

There's so many sides to this one, so be flexible. This can be home watch, checking up on properties when the owner is out of town. Or handyman services. And not major stuff, either. There's a lot of elderly that are unable to do things like change an air filter, replace a toilet flapper, or tighten a valve to stop a leaky faucet. My friend Andrew did this, he even got an older white pickup truck because it made him look more official. You could even get paid to housesit for someone while still going out and doing some odd jobs. Even more? Rent your place on Airbnb while you get paid to live at the place you're housesitting.

Check out how much a plumber charges to change a toilet flapper and you'll see there's something here for you. Realtors already know..

It's like being a teacher, but you can set your own hours. If you have strong skills in an area that many kids are lacking (like math), this might be something for you. You can tutor from your home, virtually, or maybe meet up at the library. Here's someone who's doing it:

Some people just have a knack for interior design, and with the real estate boom still going strong, there could be something here for you. A well staged house can sell quicker, and for more money. Chances are, one of your neighbors is a realtor. We live in SWFL, trust me, someone nearby is. Strike up a conversation and see if there's something there. To save money, some have even moved on to virtual staging with AI. Might be something to look into.

It's Southwest Florida, there are a LOT of bilingual speakers here. So why not make that work for you. You'd think that programs like Google Translate would make this job obsolete, but that's not the case. Google Translate misses a lot of the nuances and local dialect in language. As many of us know, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Mexican are all very different variations of the Spanish language. And computer translation programs don't understand the slang. Check out places like Freelancer and Fiverr to see if this is worth it for you.

https://www.freelancer.com/jobs/translation

How many times have you seen on facebook asking if someone is a Notary Public? How hard is it? According to Florida Notary "First, you need a notary surety bond which will cost you as little as $30-$40 depending on the provider. The second fee is the Florida state filing fee, which is the same $39 cost mentioned above."

The downside is, you'll need to travel to where you're needed and you're only allowed to charge $10 per notary act.

https://www.flgov.com/become-a-notary/