Amazon workers are falling sick with the coronavirus and essential products are being prioritized above toys, games and your latest adult novel.
It is not possible to buy everything you may want or need in person at the moment. With businesses, both essential and non-essential, temporarily closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, in many places the grocery store and local pharmacy may be your only lifelines with real, flesh-and-blood people standing, waiting to serve you at the cash register.
We do need more in our lives than fruits, veggies and Cheetos, but how to get it? Buying a new pair of shoes or the latest book online can remove some of your boredom for a while, at least, while we strive to stay healthy and wait the virus out. Is it the right thing to do, however?
Only the Bare Essentials
Figuring out how you should be supporting both people and businesses, as well as the health system, can be a difficult puzzle to solve during COVID-19. Earlier in March, Amazon stated it was banning some warehouses from stocking non-essential items during the pandemic. Toilet paper, cleaning sprays, and disinfectant wipes were seen as more important than pool toys and craft materials.
It was a temporary move by Amazon, but a significant one. The site also restricted which sellers could pedal in-demand items on its website by wiping over 500, 000 high-priced listings off the site and banning another 2,000 or so sellers. (These were the guys offering you things like a common bottle of hand sanitizer for $100).
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The changes were enough to put some third-party sellers on Amazon out of business, and it was also a bit of a wake-up call for consumers.
If you are like me, you might have started wondering if your non-essential purchases were wasting the time and money of suppliers. These should be focused on providing people with life-saving countertop sprays, hand soap and more facemasks. Was it now evil to be ordering online Lego for the kids?
Sick Amazon Workers and More Ventilators
The coronavirus has popped up among workers in Amazon warehouses, and workers in the company’s locations in New York State have threatened to go on strike, in pursuit of more protection against COVID-19. Employees want their site closed for cleaning, and paid time off while it is being done. It does seem that while our shopping options have been cut down to the very few, we should exercise caution. We do not want to be encouraging excess work at Amazon or other retailers, thus putting their workers in harm’s way.
That being said, companies as big as Amazon are not going to close their doors for good. Nor are they likely to have all of their employees stay home, if they do not have to. Our dollars speak, as customers, but how far can our voice go?
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During war times, major factories in the US switched their products. They went from making cars to producing the tools of war: bombers, tanks, artillery and more. The same is happening now.
To win the war against COVID-19, both Ford and Tesla are going into the business of manufacturing ventilators. Gov. Andrew Cuomo estimates that in New York state alone, they could need up to 30,000 of the machines, in order to save lives.
On the other hand, a global depression could be looming. We want to keep everyone that we can, in business. But we also want to save lives. What actions are ethical for the average citizen?
This is what I think. We are still in the wild west of modern pandemics. It is a hard call to make: do whatever doesn’t disturb your solid night’s sleep, because you may need it.
