@trinsec
Theresa
@​TSearcaigh

I don't get people like Bezos. If I
had billions of dollars, I would

impulsively start fixing shit.
Homeless vets? I don't think so.
Hungry children? Not on my
watch. He could be Batman.
What a waste.

If you're the kind of person who would do that, you never become
Bezos in the first place.

My Dad owned a business my whole life. It was profitable, but it
didn’t expand. I ask him once why he never grew it, and he said it’s
nearly impossible without climbing on someone's back—-your
vendors, your customers, your employees. Particularly that last one.
You don't wait until your business is big to be a good human being.
The very first time you have to choose between your own profit and
your employees health insurance, you choose the later. You give
maternity leave even though the government doesn’t make you. You
dock your own salary to not lay people off during a recession. You
have adequate staffing and reliable hours. Anybody who says you
can’t run a retail business on a normal, reasonable, predictable
schedule you know in advance is full of shit. My Dad did it for 35
years (always have one more person than you think you need, and
98% of your staffing problems vanish). It’s just not maximum

profit. If you don’t prioritize extracting profit from every corner of
your business, you never become rich enough to give billions away.

(One of the things my father is proud of is that by the time he retired
they hadn't needed to take a help wanted ad in 30 years. Turnover

was low, and when a spot opened, referrals filled it.)

(via goyaveh)