{"id":32,"date":"2024-07-02T09:36:45","date_gmt":"2024-07-02T09:36:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raywhiting.com\/?p=32"},"modified":"2024-07-02T09:36:45","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T09:36:45","slug":"spoiled-by-prime-i-think-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raywhiting.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/02\/spoiled-by-prime-i-think-not\/","title":{"rendered":"Spoiled by Prime? I think not!"},"content":{"rendered":"

I woke early in spite of having a gummy at 8:30 last night and being in bed at 10:00.\u00a0 It was an uncomfortable sleep; the kind where I know I was asleep, but only just barely.\u00a0 I woke just around 3:00a.m. and within 10 minutes felt a nap was in order.\u00a0 That will come this afternoon, surely.<\/p>\n

One of the first posts I saw on Facebook when I opened it was from a local online friend.\u00a0 He’s been through a lot of crap and in recent days is recovering from the horrible storm we had a month or so ago.\u00a0 The place he lived had significant damage and he is now in the process of securing a different sort of abode.\u00a0 That, of course, is entirely his own story to share, but I was struck by one section of his post: (I have edited it down for brevity and relevance.)<\/em><\/p>\n

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I am spoiled by Amazon prime. As I plan the\u00a0 [work ahead], I order with deliveries the next day. The [supplies and materials] were all ordered and delivered overnight. Correction. I ordered the [supplies] this morning and they were delivered this afternoon.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
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The Amazon warehouse system is a marvel to behold. For an older human with no vehicle, the ability to purchase most non-food items without leaving the home, having it the next day, is absolutely fabulous. I can have a car or I can have what I need, I just can’t do both. How to survive on a micro budget.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
I feel this, on several levels.<\/div>\n
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I’m not going to go heavily into the arguments about modern shopping, Big Box vs. Mom & Pop, online or in-person, self-checkout vs. full cashier service, etc., etc.\u00a0 Those arguments are, in my opinion, a waste of time and rarely convince those who make other choices.<\/div>\n
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I will say here that I was blocked on Facebook by someone who posted about the evils of using self-checkout.\u00a0 I commented I almost always use self-checkout and gave my reasons.\u00a0 My comment was clear in the use of “I” statements; i.e., my<\/span> experiences, my<\/span> reasons, and not a bit about what others should do.\u00a0 That person was highly offended and took it as a personal and deliberate insult.\u00a0 Fuck that noise.\u00a0 I have no need to coddle people so invested in minor details of living, especially the details of someone else’s personal life.<\/div>\n
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For an older person with limited funds and limited mobility access to physically go places, certain services have become an essential part of my existence — things like Amazon Prime, Instacart (for groceries), DoorDash (for restaurant food delivery), or Lyft\/Uber (for rides to or from places), and several other similar services.<\/div>\n
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Yes, these services do cost money.\u00a0 It would cost even more money if I had a car and all of its related expenses — car note, insurance, gas, tires, oil, maintenance, parking fees to go certain places.\u00a0 \u00a0When it comes to groceries, I have the choice to walk to and from Kroger (not advisable at my age and condition, and in this Texas heat), OR use Lyft\/Uber to get there, OR use Kroger’s delivery service (which is silly because they just call Instacart anyway), OR\u00a0 can use Instacart.\u00a0 There is a slight upcharge when using Instacart, but it is less than if I used Lyft to get there since hiring a ride to get to Kroger would be around $25.00 for round trip, probably more when I add in a tip.\u00a0 Even including a tip for Instacart shoppers, it’s still less money, in my opinion.\u00a0 Plus, by using Instacart, I’m not roaming the aisles wearing myself out and resisting impulse purchases.<\/div>\n
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Similar for Amazon Prime.\u00a0 Besides the online entertainment options and other benefits, using Amazon Prime to get what I need saves me time, money, and energy that I would expend by going to a physical store.<\/div>\n
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At my age, it is obvious that shopping is not the same as when I was a kid. Some people want to make it a political statement or argue environmental impact or plead for workers, etc.\u00a0 I can’t change the world or make grand statements about other people’s habits.\u00a0 \u00a0I do what I do in the way I do because it reduces stress.<\/div>\n
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And I absolutely don’t think I am “spoiled” by how things work these days.\u00a0 Without such access, I would be very dependent on others to take me here and there, or do other things for me.\u00a0 I am very resistant to the idea of becoming dependent on others for my regular daily needs.\u00a0 And there are others who earn their money by providing these services.\u00a0 The so-called gig-economy, staffed by gig workers, is here to stay.<\/div>\n
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Like I said, I can’t comment on how others choose to manage their lives. I have to do what works best for me, first.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I woke early in spite of having a gummy at 8:30 last night and being in bed at 10:00.\u00a0 It was an uncomfortable sleep; the kind where I know I was asleep, but only just barely.\u00a0 I woke just around 3:00a.m. and within 10 minutes felt a nap was in order.\u00a0 That will come this … Continue reading “Spoiled by Prime? I think not!”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-random-stuff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/raywhiting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/raywhiting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/raywhiting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raywhiting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raywhiting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/raywhiting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33,"href":"https:\/\/raywhiting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32\/revisions\/33"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/raywhiting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raywhiting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raywhiting.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}