A whole new class of occupation: Drone pilot.
Which leads to the question of whether the pilots have to be FAA certified for operating an aircraft in a residential area. Yet another case where our laws are again behind our reality. Proof of a fast-moving society.
The other thing I wonder about is whether folks will start shooting at delivery drones just to harvest them. The loonie tunes of the world are pretty much capable of shooting at other legit drones like news camera and government mapping drones anyway.
However, Adam, I don't see this as ridiculous. I see it as desperation caused by lack of people willing to be "human delivery drones." My step-son is a UPS driver. To prevent him from catching flack, his name will not appear here. The conditions he must endure are horrendous.
During the pandemic, package delivery drivers have been declared "essential personnel" so they don't get the choice to stay home due to the novel corona virus. Then, when massive storms hit the area, they are expected to deliver anyway despite seriously inclement weather. According to my step-son, truck maintenance is an issue because, of course, a truck down for maintenance is not making deliveries. Their tires frequently go "bald" and become traction hazards. Then, many of them have poorly ventilated trucks. UPS vehicles have been measured to reach over 140 degrees F in summer and their open nature makes it difficult for them to hold any heat in winter. The other services (FedEx, WorldWide, etc.) have different but not unrelated issues regarding driver conditions.
Now add to that the new service, Amazon Prime, and you have increased demand for drivers but not an increased supply of qualified drivers. You need special licenses for commercial carriers, so Joe Schmuckatelli off the street cannot just walk in and say "I want to be a delivery driver." My step-son also is finding that as he matures (euphemism for "gets older and more decrepit"), it gets harder and harder to make deliveries. Then, a recent trend is that people are more and more getting packages delivered which means more tonnage to be hand-carried or hand-truck carried from truck to door. People are shipping heavier items.
Net result: This is an adaptation in response to a shortage of delivery drivers and, for that matter, a shortage of trucks that represent a massive investment in delivery fleets. It is not ridiculous. It is an act of desperation.