By late afternoon, dozens of brown boxes in assorted sizes begin piling up in the lobby of my apartment building. Each bears the familiar smile — a cheerful curve stretching from “A” to “Z”— signaling a company that sells everything and promises satisfaction.
The Amazon delivery box, found everywhere from suburban porches to city apartment lobbies, is more than cardboard. It symbolizes a shopping culture that expects nearly anything within hours and, in a growing number of cities, under 30 minutes. It also represents the vast network of workers and robots sorting and packing orders, and fleets of trucks, vans, bikes and even drones carrying them to customers’ doorsteps.
