u/JumpyJervis

Link to my previous post: https://www.reddit.com/r/KolkataLife/s/sxqiqaatVJ

Got a 1-star rating from the store manager today as a new Blinkit picker and honestly it messed with my head more than I expected.

This is literally my first week doing this job part-time for some side income. I’m still trying to remember racks, understand routes, control panic during live orders and adapt to the speed of the floor.

But the environment feels like there’s no beginner phase at all.

The moment live orders start:

- timers everywhere,

- nonstop pressure,

- people rushing,

- manager focused only on PPI,

- constant “faster faster faster.”

And somehow beginners are expected to perform almost like people who’ve probably picked thousands of orders already.

What frustrates me most is that I KNOW my brain is learning the store slowly.

After coming home I suddenly remember:

“Oh yeah, that item was near beverages beside biscuits.”

But during rush hour the brain just overloads sometimes.

Still got hit with that 1-star rating like I’m supposed to become a speed machine in few days 💀

Now I’m overthinking everything:

- Am I actually too slow?

- Is this normal for beginners?

- Or is quick-commerce work culture just this brutal?

Weird part is… despite all this frustration, I can still feel muscle memory slowly developing.

So now I’m stuck between:

“I’m improving slowly”

and

“Maybe this environment doesn’t care about slow improvement at all.”

Find the rating screenshot in comments.

Day 3 as a Blinkit picker in Kolkata and now I finally understand what “live order pressure” actually means.

This is not even my full-time job. I joined part-time just for some side income and honestly thought:

“How hard can grocery picking be?”

Training felt manageable. I started remembering products, some shelves, routes etc. But the moment real live orders started flooding in, everything changed.

Timers running nonstop.

Order sounds constantly.

People rushing everywhere.

Manager/incharge only focused on PPI and speed.

And the weird part is — it sometimes feels like beginners are expected to perform almost like experienced pickers immediately.

Bro, some of these people have probably walked the same floor thousands of times 😭

Meanwhile my brain is still trying to build a map of the store while being told to “run.”

Funny thing is — after coming home, I suddenly started remembering many shelf locations perfectly.

During rush:

“Where is this item??”

After reaching home:

“Oh yes, beside the biscuits rack near beverages.” 💀

The real challenge honestly isn’t memory. It’s pressure.

Once panic kicks in, even products you’ve already seen before suddenly feel unfamiliar for a few seconds.

Still, I can slowly feel muscle memory developing:

- some products instantly click,

- some routes happen automatically,

- sometimes my legs reach the rack before my brain does 😅

I guess this job is basically repetition + pressure until the brain finally adapts.