It's interesting to see how certain jobs are thought of over the years.<p>Working in an Amazon warehouse is a pretty average blue-collar job these days. You're a slave to the time clock, you're on your feet all day, walking miles and miles, but other than that there's no real extremes. In every job you're expected to get a # of parts out per hours or ship so many package.<p>But the good thing about an Amazon warehouse, is you're not standing next to a heat-treating oven, sweating your bag off. You're not mixing dangerous chemicals that could poison you and requires you to wear an uncomfortable ventilation system or suit.<p>There are no fiberglass matting slivers to get in your arms or eyes. There are no 20 ton presses that will crush you in the blink of an eye. You're not outside in the freezing cold. You're not standing around in a meat freezer hacking away at a side of beef with a giant knife.<p>Is it the greatest job in the world? No, but there are a limited supply of those and competition for them is very high. Is it worst job? Far from it. And 30 years ago it would have been considered pretty cushy.
They sound like a nut with a grievance.<p>The story is inconsistent. Begging and "writing" is morally superior to being "working poor?" And then they cannot find any other job with their degrees because of their grievance with Amazon? And then they like being homeless because they used to work at a camping store?<p>They cannot accept charity from family but they beg in front of a Whole Foods?<p>If this is the poster child for the anti-Amazon movement, Amazon has nothing to worry about.
While there's certainly an issue around working conditions at Amazon and more broadly with the US social safety net this story doesn't feel "real".<p>A quick google reveals the authors bio "I taught ESL in South Korea for more than two years, traveled Asia, been around the Caribbean and zig-zagged the U.S. I worked at the Chicago Board Options Exchange and the Chicago Brauhau." - she also has a degree in Journalism with a focus on news editorial<p>It seems hard to believe someone with that background would be unable to figure out things like food stamps.
1. She went to school to get a not very competitive degree (journalism?) and unfortunately took out loans to pay for it. It seems she couldn't pay it back, because later she says "my credit is wrecked".<p>2. It turns out she and her combination of a degree is useless, because she ended up working at Amazon packing boxes.<p>3. She hated her job, so she ended up quiting. Good!<p>4. I respect that even after it's not her problem, she stands up against poor working conditions at Amazon by writing articles.<p>5. It's unclear why she can't find a job after Amazon, or why she is homeless. She writes: "I’ve applied for many jobs, and any prospective employer that runs a Google search of my name can see my discontent with my last employer." But that's bogus, I think many employers outside the tech sector will not Google you.<p>6. The ending of the article really falls apart for me. She says "I learned to live without money and without a home ... I know how to live outside. I refuse to live within oppressive walls." But then she says "I need cash and an opportunity. Anything!", and later "I became a capitalist."<p>The takeaway of the article for me is that there are probably issues around Amazon's working conditions and that the writer of this article has made some bad decisions that she needs to work out and stop blaming Amazon and whoever else.
I can't help it, as a European I'm always shocked how these things can happen in a rich country like the US. Is it inability to navigate the system (a problem by itself) or is the US social system really that non-existant? I know at least some of the arguments, it just never fails to shock me. (Issues with the behaviour of the writer aside.)
"I became a capitalist. I flew a sign to escape harrowing conditions in Oregon and I arrived in Seattle with nothing. When I landed I saw green. I created carefully crafted signs with cardboard and a Sharpie and, just like that, I was making money again."<p>That's a really curious statement. I suppose that she is succeeding in a form of marketing, and the value she's producing is an emotional salve on those that are wealthier than her and wish to help out or assuage their own guilt?
If she is making more money being homeless than she was when she was working at Amazon, why hasn't she moved back into an apartment?<p>>I have been published in a scholarly journal and a social-justice oriented website.<p>Ah.<p>>My wallet does not contain a single bill. I need glasses. I need winter clothes. I need cash and an opportunity. Anything!<p>Anything except making $13 an hour taking things off of shelves? I mean...c'mon. Glasses, winter clothes etc. aren't <i>that</i> expensive. Check out coastal.com, go to goodwill.<p>Maybe that just doesn't make as good of a story for "social justice oriented websites"