Ditching Amazon ain’t that hard
Amazon boycott update: Still pretty sure this is the path of wisdom, not to mention a fun way to flip Bezos the bird. Best of all, it’s proving easier than I thought.
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Then I thought: Wait a minute. Maybe the low, low price has something to do with the low, low quality. It lasted a couple of years and now it’s more plastic for the landfill. Also, it was a pain in the ass that it quit working while my wife was cooking chicken. She had to check for doneness the old-fashioned way. The horror.
Anyway, I looked up the best meat thermometers online, careful to ignore the sponsored ads, the cutesy soliloquies from paid influencers, and of course anything Amazon. I found three possibilities – all quite a bit more than $11. No matter; I was going for quality this time. I made my choice and ordered from the manufacturer’s web site.
Surprise: It cost less than the same item on Amazon, and the delivery time was only a day or two more. Free shipping, too. And a five-year warranty.
Then today I was working on the car and discovered that I needed a certain plastic retainer clip. I had a huge assortment of them from an Amazon order in 2019, but of course none were the right size. I went to a nearby Autozone and found what I needed for about $4.
The only downside was that I had to leave the house and had to interact with another human being, a kid who seemed somewhat new at his job. Oh well. Maybe I should be doing more of that anyway. The upside was that I got the precise part I needed and didn’t have to order another big bag o’ plastic that I would inevitably discard at some future date.
I spent much of the aughts loving Amazon, and the last three years hating it. Feels good harness that hatred without too much inconvenience. Nothing shows principle like a cheap gesture.
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