Straaaaaaawberries, Strawberries, Can I Get Them From Amazon?

When I was young, Sealtest paid Mr. Shane to come to our back porch, pick up our empty bottles, and place our standing dairy order into a little cooler provided by the company for this purpose. Another guy came to the front door with huge cans of potato chips and fresh bread. Donaldson, I believe, was the company that provided this. National Food Service came twice a year and stocked the huge freezer and shelves in the basement with meat, cheese, frozen and canned goods, and laundry products. A Fuller Brush guy came to the door with cleaning tools and first aid supplies. In season, a guy walked down the street shouting straaaaawwwwwberries, strawberries and ice cream trucks came by a couple of times a day. I have no idea who Mr. Morris worked for but he showed up about once a month, much like Mr. Haney on Green Acres, with an assortment of things like dishes, sweaters . . . if I had to guess, I'd think maybe a Fingerhut sorta place. And, once a year, the company that sold us the encyclopedias sent someone by to see if we wanted the annual yearbook update of things that happened after our encyclopedia was printed.

A person like me - disabled, poor, unreliable transportation and hips - could almost get everything she needed without leaving home. Wednesday, I bought a birthday gift for Kaia. Today, it was delivered to my door. I could have bought almost anything I want, including all of the grocery items I mentioned above, the same way I bought the birthday gift.

Amazon did NOT take jobs away from Mr. Shane, Mr. Morris, the strawberry man, the Fuller Brush man, or any of these people. Those jobs were gone decades ago because people stopped being at home and wanting the services. Everyone preferred to drive to a bunch of places, supporting Shell, Exxon, BP - and destroying the planet. Now, Amazon (and many others) are providing ways to fix this even for people who aren't at home to answer the door or run out the door as the case may be with the strawberry man and ice cream trucks.

Another company that is far less socially responsible than Amazon ran small businesses out of town decades ago and they still get more praise and business than Amazon, much of it from people demonizing Amazon. 

Shouldn't we at least stop to think who might be behind demonizing them?

I am a fan of Jeff Bezos because and hope to make you wonder why people demonize him, and others jumping right on without researching or thinking. He pays a $15 minimum wage, provides benefits (including tuition), and takes a small salary, despite being one of the wealthiest people on the planet. He thumbed his nose at a blackmailer and stands up to critics. Amazon tells us which other companies offer the same product for less, lets us to one-stop-shopping even if the product will be shipped from another company. There might be something(s) to criticize but not one of them isn't true about many other companies that aren't being constantly scrutinized and demonized, some of whom are not nearly as responsible. Take GE, for example. They get huge tax breaks from cities/states, don't pay their fair share in taxes (if any at all), and instead of increasing wages and jobs, they cut jobs and wages. 

You don't even want to get me started on Humana. 

We  have so many much bigger problems than Amazon. Until we expect the same from every company, I think we need to stop hating on Bezos and Amazon. And even then, I'm not sure there's a reason to hate them.

If nothing else, I promise to make people think.