Dear Amazon,
It is your old friend Jack. You know me as the guy that uses you to purchase books, coffee, toys, music, movies and more. You want a million customers like me. We may not spend much but we're reliable. We make our purchases on a regular basis and we aren't limited to one product line.
I don't complain or make any sort of trouble for you. I spend the few bucks that I have budgeted for you and go about my business. But don't let that fool you into thinking that I am not aware of the unsavory side of your business. I know stories and have heard more than one person complain about your inventory and how particular items might be questionable.
Most of the time I shrug my shoulders because you aren't going to please everyone all of the time but in this case I cannot. You know the one, the time you thought that it was ok to sell a guide to pedophilia. It makes my skin crawl to type that. It hurts my head to think that someone might end up here because of a keyword search for those few words that I refuse to type again.
I am a father. A parent who is responsible for the safety and well being of children. Some of have accused me of exaggerating when I say that the boys who try to date my daughter will view me as death incarnate. They say that it is silly to exaggerate like that or accuse me of melodrama but they won't in this case.
No one will tell me that I am wrong to call you out and say that it is mind boggling to suggest that this disgusting and heinous guide shouldn't have been pulled down immediately. Some people have suggested that you didn't do so because there is no such thing as bad P.R. Some said that perhaps someone should kick Jeff Bezos in the balls...repeatedly to see if that gets his attention.
Look I don't have any misconceptions here. I worry about pedophiles but I don't see them as being the biggest threat to my children. Nor do I believe that this book will convince people that it is ok for a man to have sex with children. Not going to happen.
But that doesn't negate your shameful behavior. It doesn't remove the stain on your reputation or the hurt. It is not something that words are going to cure. Nor will a significant financial contribution to a reputable charity fix this. It just won't but again that doesn't mean that you shouldn't do it because you should.
What you need to do is work on regaining and rebuilding trust. Tell us how you are going to fix this problem so that it doesn't happen again. Tell us how you are going to establish processes that are going to ensure that this sort of thing cannot happen again.
Because we aren't going to forget. We are parents who care and who watch. We are active and vigilant and it doesn't require motivation to stand guard over our children.
Amazon, you really disappointed us and words just don't suffice.
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