＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49) on X
(Reference) Original article in Japanese
・Amazonが「置き配」を「初期設定」にしているのは問題ではないか？
1. My Surprise at the News of an Amazon Delivery Driver Roughly Leaving a Package at My Front Door
In March of this year (2021), security camera footage showing an Amazon delivery driver throwing packages around and roughly leaving them at my front door was posted on YouTube and made the news, which was quite shocking.
Previously, security camera footage of a Sagawa Express delivery driver slamming a customer’s package on the floor during delivery also made the news, and this rough handling of packages by the Amazon delivery driver is a similar incident.
While it’s true that the burden of “redelivery” is a significant issue for courier services, this is a separate matter.
It might have been an act of “venting frustration” due to something unpleasant, but it’s unacceptable behavior for a “delivery driver” whose job is to safely and carefully deliver customers’ packages.
2. My Surprise at Finding an Amazon Package Left at My Front Door
I used to think of news like this as “someone else’s problem,” but recently I ordered something from Amazon and was surprised to find the package left unattended at my front door.
As someone who is rarely away from home, I had absolutely no recollection of requesting unattended delivery.
3. I was doubly surprised when I looked it up online and learned that “Amazon has unattended delivery as its default setting.”
Suspicious, I looked it up online and was doubly surprised to learn that Amazon has “leave-at-door” as its default setting.
4. The “delivery method” should be clearly indicated on the checkout screen as either “hand-delivered” or “leave-at-door.”
Until now, I had mostly purchased from Rakuten Market, so I had assumed that “hand-delivered” was the principle, and I still believe it should be.
Even on Rakuten Market, items that come in a pack envelope, like “seasoned seaweed,” are delivered to the “mailbox,” but everything else, whether delivered by Yamato Transport, Sagawa Express, or Japan Post, is still hand-delivered.
Amazon is an American company, so perhaps they’ve adopted a pragmatic approach and “set leave-at-door” as the default setting. However, while some people dislike “hand-delivered” with contact with delivery personnel due to the impact of COVID-19, and others find “leave-at-door” convenient, there are also many people, like those who are mostly at home, who would prefer “hand-delivered.”
Therefore, I believe they should stop setting “leave-at-door” as the default and make the “choice between hand-delivered and leave-at-door” clearer.