The deepest saddest irony I’ve felt in a while is grappling with how much Amazon has made life easier for my disabled 85-year-old father, a former factory worker and union organizer...
After working on the line in Hell’s Kitchen and Newark in the 50s, he traveled across the country organizing steel mills, textile mills, clothing workers. Once he got his PhD, he managed to get tenure at CUNY and build up a sweet pension...
He did everything right and yet once he had a stroke and needed 24 hour care, money became tight and shopping at stores became impossible. Many stores don’t even carry stuff he medically needs...
So we started using Amazon Prime for everything—a special brand of adult diapers, elevated toilet seats, supplements, physical therapy balls. All cheap and at his door quickly. All to help to keep him healthy and happy, and his caretaker sane...
So when I read a story like this @nytimes one I’m reminded of how the US’s inadequacy in health care, elder care, and crumbling worker protections has forced a lifelong labor advocate to rely on an inhumane hellscape like Amazon. It’s fucking depressing. nytimes.com/2018/11/26/pod…
(Sorry yes I meant “listen” not “read,” this is a podcast w Amazon context; it’s based on a written investigation about an XPO warehouse: nytimes.com/interactive/20…)
