Have yourself an Amazon-free Christmas

I’m amazed and afraid at the same time. 

Last week I ordered a product through Amazon that I couldn’t buy in stores, and it arrived at my home the next day.  

I realize this is nothing compared to the two-hour delivery that Amazon guarantees in some major cities. But for someone used to Canada Post taking five days to get a letter to my parents (we live in the same province), one-day delivery is like discovering insulin. 

Still, I’m scared. Is this for the ultimate good? 

A guy delivered the package in a mini-van; not even a big brown van. It looked like he was using his own family vehicle. Is this like Uber, where anyone can now deliver a parcel if they wish? 

We all know how Uber is doing... they haven’t turned a profit yet. And cab drivers are losing jobs because of it. Amazon is having a similar impact on retailers. They’re so convenient and cheap that physical stores are having trouble paying the rent. 

I’m all about supporting the local store, but in this day and age, what is the local store? There are a few, to be sure, but most are large American conglomerates. Do I stop clicking on Amazon to support the local Wal-Mart? I thought it would never come to this day... 

Amazon is an innovative company that is growing by the minute. Its president, Jeff Bezos, is the richest man in the world. His ex-wife, thanks to an amicable divorce, is now the third richest woman in the world.

The company has a stranglehold on the online retail world, and it’s growing by the second. From what I’ve read, its next goal is to control and own all shipping services. Already it’s expanded into online streaming including Amazon Video and Music. Your Prime membership can go a long way, if you’re into those things. 

It also sells listening – I mean, smart – devices that answer all your questions any time of the day. “Alexa, are you spying on me again?” These devices, while somewhat creepy, are a godsend for blind people who use them in their day-to-day lives. I know, I’m reaching here. But there’s got to be some greater good I can point to! 

Like with most new things that reduce human contact, I’m still uneasy. The self-checkouts in grocery stores are another appealing innovation, especially when cashiers are prone to scanning my jalapeno peppers as some rare Thai chili pepper at $10 a pound. But how many jobs will be lost because of them?

Should I be the person who willingly goes through a long winding line to maybe save a job? Is this similar to the Luddites who started burning their machinery in the early19th century? I get the sense I’d be swimming against the current.

But there are pockets of hope.

A 22-year-old university student recently told me she tries to buy locally whenever she can. We have an area in our city that caters to these kinds of people (I speak of them as if they’re lepers), and I appreciate that. It’s something I can and sometimes do, although the local goods tend to be highly specialized and at times “unique,” kind of like that sweater your great-aunt used to knit for you.  

What shocked me most, however, was when my millennial friend also said she’s scared to buy things online. In fact, she said she rarely buys things online. I nearly fell off my chair. 

In a strange way, this makes me more optimistic about the future. Maybe the next generation is thinking about things differently. Maybe there’s a resistance developing among those wide-eyed millennials who like their avocado toast and skinny lattes. They certainly can’t afford new homes. Might as well support the local economy. 

And while they're at it, they might just create a caring economy where technology serves not just the rich, but those in need. Technology and humans an live together, but people (and their jobs) must come first. As children of an impersonal digital age, the next generation may be the first to remind us.

On that hopeful note, Merry Christmas!