It's a Jungle Out There

 It’s Wednesday and after being a Waterspider for two, back-to-back five-hour shifts on Sunday and another four-plus on Monday morning, I’m exhausted and still it could be worse.

Let’s back up.

In October I was set to “interview” at the local Amazon fulfillment center so I could start working full time, three 12-hour shifts on consecutive days. Connor contracted Covid (probably from me) so I had to cancel the appointment. By the time I was clear to rejoin society the only job available at Amazon was in a part-time capacity at their distribution center. Thank goodness.

I can’t imagine what it would have been like to be on my feet for at least 11 hours of a 12-hour shift. It’s also the reason I won’t be working security at the Masters this year or any other year going forward.

So here we are almost six months later-with the second part of a signing bonus about to come due-and its been quite the experience. My first shift started two days after the building officially opened. When we went through training the building wasn’t operational yet. Surprisingly, I don’t think I ever heard the phrase “state-of-the-art” uttered. Now that’s not to take anything away from the operation. It’s amazing the system that is in place that allows for up to 100,000 packages a day to transit the building.

So, what’s a Waterspider? It’s a person who prepares pallets filled with boxes and envelopes for shipping by wrapping them in plastic. First, it’s amazing I could do that on such a grand scale. I use aluminum foil in the kitchen because Saran Wrap gives me issues. The pallets rise over six-feet tall and wrapping them can get taxing. Not to mention the whole circling process which is more dizzy than a cliched blonde joke. Once they’re wrapped, they get moved to a specific area for the stagers to move the correct truck door. The days (seldom) where I get to build pallets or even pick packages off the line for the pallet builders, I consider a day off. I have yet to work in the cool-sounding area called Eagle Eye or as a jam-breaker or problem solver.

The atmosphere is an interesting mix of older teens to people who have their sixtieth birthday far back in the rearview mirror. One day I heard a young man who thought he was being unfairly treated because he was told not to be on his phone during work on the warehouse floor exclaim, “It’s just a part-time job, I don’t need this.” By and large I don’t get that this is the case for people that work there. Most of the people I interact with are trying to make ends meet and the job is just one of a multiple they have.

I would trade this in for a full-time job in a heartbeat, but it is steady work and only 15 minutes away on back roads with little-to-no traffic.

Between the job and reading the Washington Post online every day, how are Jeff Bezos and I not best buds yet?