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This article foreshadows an up coming book (Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century) by the author, Jessica Bruder. The article explains how some older couples came to live in campers and RVs and come to work in Amazon fulfillment warehouses, especially in the fourth quarter of the year.
An excerpt:
Chuck became a “water spider,” a catchall position—sort of like garbage boy—that entailed pushing carts, resupplying stations with totes, emptying garbage cans, and other odd jobs. He was in constant motion, walking about 15 miles per shift, pausing only on rare occasions. One such occasion came when a box flew off a conveyor belt and knocked him flat on the ground. The sound of his head hitting the concrete floor was terrifyingly loud; in an instant, he was surrounded by worried coworkers and an Amazon medic. The medic held up a finger, asking Chuck to watch as he moved it slowly back and forth. Soon he had good news: Chuck hadn’t sustained a concussion. So he went back to work. (Amazon declined to comment on the incident.)
An excerpt:
Chuck became a “water spider,” a catchall position—sort of like garbage boy—that entailed pushing carts, resupplying stations with totes, emptying garbage cans, and other odd jobs. He was in constant motion, walking about 15 miles per shift, pausing only on rare occasions. One such occasion came when a box flew off a conveyor belt and knocked him flat on the ground. The sound of his head hitting the concrete floor was terrifyingly loud; in an instant, he was surrounded by worried coworkers and an Amazon medic. The medic held up a finger, asking Chuck to watch as he moved it slowly back and forth. Soon he had good news: Chuck hadn’t sustained a concussion. So he went back to work. (Amazon declined to comment on the incident.)
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