Dear Amazon Employees

To the hundreds of thousands of Amazon warehouse employees,

As I sit in my Los Angeles apartment, watching the news, over reacting to each sneeze, itch in my throat, and tickle in my nose, I get up and wander over to my fridge.

It's the fifth week of our stay-at-home order and we have just been warned not to venture beyond our front door for the next week, maybe two, maybe more, so opening the fridge and seeing I'm out of (enter item here) I stand back and consider...do I venture out to the store and risk my health as well as the health of others, or do I order online?

Of course the answer is easy. Amazon with its free two day delivery and competitive prices is tough to overlook and as I scroll down all the options and choose the one which suits me best in brand and price, I sit on my couch and slide that "add to cart" button.

Now in the past I have thoughtlessly chosen the quickest shipping methods for the pesky instant gratification most of us now struggle with because of the ease of Amazon, but now in the wake of Covid19, I truly believe we all know better, that we all see beyond the user friendly website to see the hundreds of thousands of people who are braving a pandemic so I can get basic necessities at our front door, and I hope we all choose relaxed shipping.

These brave people are waking up in the morning and sprinting from one side of a warehouse to the next, touching items in bins which haven't been sterilized, delivering items to our doors, and going home in fear that they may bring the virus back to their families. Maybe they are doing it to continue to have income despite the total shut down of the economy, but to wake up every day in the face of danger is nothing less than a superhero act.

Superheroes who are putting their own safety at risk because I need toilet paper or dog food or AAA batteries. Most are not items which make or break any one person's life. We live in a world of luxury spending masked as necessities. We live in a world where courageous people are braving the storm to aid in the comfort of all Americans, and they are doing it at low wages; some with a sense duty, some with the basic need for income.

These employees are the difference between Americans living the lifestyles they are accustomed to and if they weren't there we would see larger societal changes than we have already seen.

People getting through the stay at home orders required to defeat this virus need some semblance of homeostasis between the life we were leading before the pandemic hit the States and after. Living as normally as possible with these luxury buys like our favorite coffee blends and foods to get us through our isolation period is what is keeping us sane; not only sane, but safe.

I truly believe if Americans weren't able to live to the standards we have been accustomed to, there would be so many other problems happening right now, but because many have the luxury of sitting in our apartments, receiving goods at our doors, and living our lives as closely to the lives we left outside that door is a vital asset in not only making sure we have the goods that we need, but the peace of mind that things aren't all that different, with a side of hope that our lives will continue normally when we finally do step outside our front doors.

And for that peace of mind, to the workers at Amazon keeping our country running, keeping our citizens comfortably at home at the risk of your safety...there are no words to express what you mean to this country. You don't have to go to this job. You could choose to stay home and wait for these stimulus checks and realize that we are all spoiled rotten here in America, but somehow you have chosen to keep us going.

This is a service which can be repaid by the American people fighting to make sure you get a good wage and benefits for the work you do, which is now apparent, is absolutely necessary and important to our country and our way of life.

It is not fair that you are risking it all when you're only mildly being taken care of, but now that I see the thousands of faces behind the water filter I just installed on my sink so I can limit trips the grocery store, you better believe I'll be doing everything I can to help your life to be better when we beat this thing, not only because of your bravery in the face of this pandemic, but because we must.

So thank you.

Thank you with all of my heart.

Thank you for risking your lives, not just for me, one person living in a small pod in Los Angeles, CA, but for the millions of people across this country who you make it that much easier for.

Thank you.