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Tuesday, April 1, 2025

Three months sober.

 

I passed my three months mark! It has been three months since I ordered anything off Amazon.

I thought it was going to be hard to sever that relationship. For the past decades, buying on Amazon became ubiquitous, omnipresent... malignant. We would go into a box-store / retailer, see something that we liked, get the product name and serial number, then look it up on Amazon for a “better price” and order it. It got way too easy to go to the Amazon website and just order whatever. And then I watched as the price of goods through the site rose to that if we would have just bought local. Often (in my experience) charging more to buy through them than through a retail outlet. "But it was AMAZON! I didn’t have to leave the house!" I developed a pit in my stomach every time I had to hit the checkout button. 

I’ve flipped the script. When I see something that I like, I may snap a picture of the item and serial number, and search Amazon for vendors… and then go to the vendor or retail outlet website (which Amazon does provide in the product description) and buy directly from them. I’m retired. This is not taking much more energy out of my day. The last piece were two parts we need – filters for the refrigerator and furnace. When we bought these components a few years back, I just started an “Auto Ship” on Amazon for the seasonal replacement parts. I got notified a couple weeks ago that the latest were about to ship.  I went to the manufacture sites and set up an auto ship directly from them. There was no difference in cost. None. I canceled the Amazon orders and the repeat function.

If Bezos can afford to buy (and destroy) the Washington Post, the James Bond franchise and send rocket-powered dildos into space, not to mention how badly he treats his Amazon workers, along with kissing the SCROTUS ring, Jeff certainly does not need any more of my money.

I have grown to feel the same way about seeing stacks of Amazon boxes in the neighborhood recycle bins as I do about seeing a Tesla. Disdain. But that uneasy pit in my stomach about shopping on Amazon is finally abating.

Three months sober.


6 comments:

Infidel753 said...

Congratulations! I think kicking the Amazon habit will get easier over time, as new habits form. And you are contributing to making a difference.

Even if the price for a local store or the original vendor is the same or a bit higher, at least you know your money is going directly to an independent business, without Bezos getting a cut to be turned into media clout or pointless space junk.

SickoRicko said...

Congratulations from me as well.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Well done, congrats!

Leanna said...

My husband and I are doing the same thing. I dumped my Amazon Prime and haven't bought anything from them since two months ago. It was hard because I have my Kindle with them but I turned it in to Amazon on a buy back and I am now going with my local library. It feels great to have a real book in my hands again. It has been hard for my husband but he's getting there. He just went to the town office supply store to get a new Hp scanner/printer. He said it's hard not to buy online with Amazon but we have discovered a whole world of people here in our small town that can supply what we need without having to pay a billionaire who does nothing for our country or the world.

whkattk said...

That's what we've been doing ever since we heard about Bezos backing the batshit.

Mistress Maddie said...

Your to be congratulated my friend!!!!!!

I have DEPISED that company since its inception by that greedy bastard. Have never used it or any of its services and never will. I didn't even use them in the pandemic, and I would drive 30 miles out of my way to get something, before using that evil company for shit.

Can you tell I hate Amazon?