Where to begin, Jeff Bezos? Let's start with my love affair with you and, more importantly, your company, Amazon.
You gave me something few others could: unparalleled happiness and instant gratification. You made my life free of want. And all I had to do was click a few buttons.
Sometimes I wasn't sure what I wanted, but if I searched random desires like "waterproof sandals" or "vintage music boxes," the product would pop up instantly, and in the next minute it would be mine. Sometimes I didn't even know what I wanted, and you were kind enough to "offer suggestions" based on my previous purchases. You knew me … you knew what would tantalize me, what would feed my desires.
That is why it is so hard for me to write this letter and break up with you.
You see, not too far into our relationship, I started to hear things. Like how you treat your employees as if they were robots. Or the ruthless things you do to edge out online competitors. I chose to ignore those ugly stories, like quickly changing the TV channel when an abused, caged animal appears in one of those endless ads. You see, I was not ready to give up on your giving me everything I could possibly want at the touch of a keypad.
Then I heard about your yacht. I mean, really? A 417-foot superyacht that's so massive it has its own "support yacht" with a helipad? For $500 million? It was almost enough to make me cancel my order for that perfect living room lamp. Almost.
Then the rumors started about how you're not paying your fair share of taxes. Again, really? This just does not fit with my code of ethics, I thought, as I ordered yet another pair of pants which I can try on at home and return for free.
Finally, I was forced to watch you take your vanity trip to space. At a cost of millions, maybe billions, you and your brother and a couple of other lucky travelers took a 10-minute flight to space and experienced a few minutes of weightlessness. I have to wonder if that money might have been better spent here on Earth, like, I don't know, ending poverty, eradicating disease, educating our youth?