random thoughts – Day 1,463 – (Tuesday) – buying and waiting

I joined Amazon Prime because of a woman. After seeing an episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel at a friend’s house, I joined Prime so I could binge watch the series at home. Once signed up, it made sense to take advantage of the free shipping and next day deliveries that other people seemed to to join for.

First Amazon order.

The first purchases in my order history are a poster frame and a plantar fasciitis kit with gel heel caps, arch supports and other items. Definitely not glamorous, but those foot items were hugely helpful during a time of terrible foot pain in the summer of 2019. 

Later orders were more fun – a pink and gold shiny tuxedo, paillette embellished top, jewelry, and bright 25-yard skirt for dance troupe costuming, a bag for the Middle Eastern drum I bought from an actual music store.

During the shutdown times, Amazon deliveries kept me fed with coffee, spices, cookies, and salty snacks from Amazon Pantry (until they disappeared) and regular full grocery orders from Whole Foods back when the deliveries were free. Pandemic entertainment arrived via deliveries of puzzles, books, art supplies. And shoes. 

Nesting activities were enhanced with housewares and items for organizing. Pet supplies arrived. Gifts were sent to the nieces. Most orders were next day delivery. It was predictable and reliable. It was amazing.

In the post-shutdown times, there are still deliveries, but lately they arrive with less joy and excitement. Some items were purely practical (new floor vents). Some were returned – the curtains that looked nothing like the pictures, clothing that didn’t fit, incorrect items.

In recent years the membership fee increased and so has the delivery window. Many items are shown as two-day delivery, which is completely acceptable (when it happens as promised). What bugs me is when placing an order because the items are advertised as next-day delivery, and then on delivery day, as the clock ticks closer to the projected delivery window, a message arrives saying that the delivery is delayed. There have been enough broken delivery promises lately that it feels like just another dysfunctional relationship. Kind of like marriage number two.

The counterpoint to the delayed deliveries is the stuff that delivers same day or overnight. It feels like I’m getting my revenge. My sneakers are delayed? Ok, fine. I’ll take those vitamins with same-day delivery that I don’t actually need today. Another late order? Yes, I do want the delivery window between 4 am and 8 am on the cat treats and toys. It’s the principle.

Coming soon.

Today’s tardy item is a grooming tool for Kiki. Now I might need to order some more toys for her to ignore just for a retaliatory pre-dawn delivery. Tomorrow’s expected delivery is an upright scratching post because the architecturally interesting angled sisal board that delivered a couple weeks ago and the flat cardboard scratch pads bought before Kiki even arrived have not been used for the purposes intended. They currently serve as charcuterie boards holding Kiki’s treats. The treats disappear nightly but the boards are never scratched, while the edge of the chair and two edges of the ottoman have suffered the attention of Kik’s lethal talons.  

If shopping in stores wasn’t so time consuming and disappointing and I wasn’t mostly antisocial, I would sever the cord and be free of Amazon. Maybe. I think. Hard to say. Sure, it's feeling dysfunctional, but it's mighty grand to be shopping from the couch and not having to dodge other shoppers or talk to anyone.

For now, I’ll be anxiously awaiting the grooming tool and the scratching post.