'12/#50 Amazon... A Strange Place

We have been here for a month and have had some time to observe. What we have seen has surprised, amazed, stunned, and befuddled us. We laugh and complain about the way management does things. The products we pick make us shake our heads and wonder about the people at the other end of the Internet. And then there are the people we work with. Some are regular employees and then there are those like us. I'm talking about the seasonal workers that will be gone by Christmas. We have our fellow workcampers who are primarily senior citizens and there are the locals either taking whatever work they can find or taking a second job for some extra cash.

When we pick items to fill orders everything is random. Products are not stocked in any order. Plush toys, auto parts, peanut butter, and books could all be in the same cubby. Once you find the item the next thing you have to pick could be 2 levels down and on the other side of the building. It makes no sense. I now have the mindset that I am there to walk and walk and walk, and if I happen to pick an item....well that's a bonus.

The products we see are another story. I believe that Amazon carries everything! Books, CDs, videos on every subject imaginable. Toys, tool, and trinkets that most of us would never use or even know what to do with. Then there is the food. Yes, food. Mary swore she was doing someones grocery shopping one day. Peanut butter, ketchup, ramen noodles, tuna, and cereal. There is dog, cat, bird, rabbit, fish and reptile food for your pets. And then there is the adult entertainment. Not just books and videos. I'm talking about lotions, personal massagers(wink,wink), bondage kits, and other apparatus' that I don't want to talk about or don't know what they are for. And like I said any of these things could be sharing a cubby waiting to be picked.

Our fellow employees also have gotten our attention. Like all of our travel experiences we have met some wonderful people. There are workcampers in their 70's doing jobs that would kill people 30 years younger. Some of the younger workcampers are traveling and home schooling their kids. The locals working this as a second job are dragging. You can see the exhaustion and feel for them. Then we have the regular year round employees. They fall into one of three categories. Either they don't care either way about the seasonal employees, or they are happy for the help during the busy Christmas season. Then there is the third group that looks down their noses at us and act like we are second class citizens. It doesn't matter to us it just determines who we do or don't talk to.

One thing we have noticed about our fellow employees is the number of doppelgangers we have seen. Almost every day we seem to find someone who could be a twin or close relative of someone we have known. There are so many that remind us of past postal employees we feel like we are at home. Well we are enjoying our 2 days off and are looking towards 6 days weeks until we leave. We figure we will be working about 18 more days before we head to Florida, family, and friends. So until the next blog here's wishing everyone a happy and healthy holiday season from our home in Campbellsville KY because...

Home is where we park it,
Frank & Mary