Ohio man orders pool noodles from Walmart. Why did they send them in 165 separate boxes?: ‘As a former FedEx driver, that would be the best day ever’

There may not be a time in your life when you need 165 pool noodles from Walmart. But if you do, they’ll apparently be shipped to you in 165 separate boxes.

That’s the niche situation TikTok creator @orphanediron found himself in when he made the big purchase for their business.

Why Did Walmart Send 165 Separate Boxes?

“So Walmart sent me one noodle in each box,” the creator says at the start of the clip.

He then shows one of the boxes, which appears to have enough room for several more pool noodles inside.

“Every one of those is one noodle,” he says. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

As the delivery continues, he shows a truck still full of boxes.

“We’re halfway unloaded,” he says. “This is insane.”

The creator says the shipping was free, but still couldn’t make sense of the waste.

“Shipping’s free, but you wasted all these boxes, this guy’s time, all the fuel,” he says.

He then asks the Walmart worker how many boxes there are.

“165,” the worker responds.

“Look at that,” he says after seeing one pool noodle inside. “Why? What is the point of that?”

The group starts laughing at the absurdity of the delivery.

“You have to scan 165 boxes with one pool noodle each,” the creator says. “I hope you get paid by the hour, buddy.”

Not Every Box Had Just One Pool Noodle

Eventually, they find one medium box and one large box and decide to see whether those also contain only one pool noodle.

“I want to know what’s in the big one,” the creator says.

When they open the larger box, it appears to have around 15 pool noodles inside, which he says is much better than expected.

“That’s pretty good,” he says. “That’s a lot better than I anticipated.”

After unpacking everything, the 165 pool noodles take up far less space than the pile of cardboard they arrived in.

“And that is 165 noodles right there,” he says, showing the stack of pool noodles. “That’s insane.”

He then pans back to the wall of boxes left behind.

“What am I supposed to do with all this?” he asks. “For real?”

Commenters Had Questions

In the comments section, viewers were just as confused by the packaging as the creator was.

“As a former FedEx driver. That would be the best day ever,” one user wrote. “Full truck one stop? AND the boxes aren’t 120lbs. Hell yeah dude.”

“The real question is what are you doing with 165 pool noodles?” another asked.

Another commenter eventually found the answer. “I went down the rabbit hole. He bought this many pool noodles because he restores and sells cast irons and uses the pool noodles as padding for shipping,” they explained.

That commenter was right. In a follow-up video, the TikToker shows the process of packing a cast-iron skillet. He uses the pool noodles to pad the handles and rims of cast-iron skillets before shipping them.

Why Would Walmart Ship Them Separately?

There might be a logistical explanation for this.

Walmart’s online operation is not limited to one warehouse sending one complete order.

The retail giant uses a mix of fulfillment centers, stores, delivery hubs, and third-party sellers to get online orders to customers. In fact, Walmart says more than 4,000 of its stores now operate as delivery hubs.

That could explain why customers sometimes either get split orders or, like in the TikToker’s case, a hilarious situation.

@orphanediron Count your days @Walmart #reels #fyp #why #orphanediron #noodles ♬ original sound – Orphaned Iron

The Mary Sue has reached out to Walmart via contact form and @orphanediron via email.

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