What has happened
to a nation,
a people
who think its fulfillment
can be ordered from a warehouse?
Yesterday I was listening to a program about jobs on NPR. The guest said many people are leaving the retail sector for jobs in Fulfillment Centers. Well, when I heard ‘fulfillment centers’ I thought of something like Willie Wonka’s Chocolate Factory (though, actually that creeped me out a little bit). But some place beautiful, that involved nature and spiritual pursuits and maybe puppies (but not puppy mill puppies, and no puppy poop), or maybe a library that had free coffee and tea.
Ok, basically I had no idea what a fulfillment center was. But as I listened I realized what they meant by ‘fulfillment center’ was warehouse that dealt with e-commerce. That’s just so Orwellian, I sort of couldn’t believe my ears; but when I looked up the definition, sure enough, I found this:
“Fulfillment Center: The location where incoming orders are received from affiliated stores or locations. These orders are processed and filled. These centers may also work independently of specific companies where orders are outsourced for the purpose of fulfilling customer orders.”
You can see for yourself here: Business Dictionary
I’m not sure I can express how profoundly sad this makes me.
In Other Words 