I’m gonna get a plug in for TJ Maxx (they aren’t paying me). Great place to Christmas shop when you need gifts for multiple people but don’t know what to get them. Amazon doesn’t really fill that niche, since you sort of have to know what you’re looking for.

But it is taking over. Even I, who resisted ever buying one single thing from or through Amazon up until 2024, have now done so 3 or 4 times. Just this week I gave my phone number to the clerk at Walgreen’s, because I thought “why not? everybody else already has it.” The borg assimilates me.

One thing I noted, about both Amazon and walmart.com, is that they both stored my credit card info without my ever giving them permission. Not an oversight on my part, I’m very particular about not letting online entities store my info, preferring to enter it myself every time, but those two just took it. Which eases the “friction” of the transaction, which I’m sure was their goal.