No, I’m not talking about the failed attempt to re-create the Wright brothers’ first flight, although it might be ironic that this occurred in the week of their 100th anniversary, as a reminder of the ubiquitous effect of their invention on commerce. I ordered a Christmas gift for a nephew from Amazon.com Wednesday. Normally I refuse to pay extra for fast shipping, partly because I’m a cheapskate, and partly because I abhor the increasingly rushed mentality of our society, where everything is urgent and nothing can wait. But, in this case, wanting to assure delivery well before 12/25, I opted for the UPS second-day air option; Fed Ex overnight really did seem like overkill.
I placed the order Wednesday morning, and received email confirmation that night that the package had shipped and would arrive Friday. I was a little skeptical about that promise, but even Monday would be good enough. I was very surprised when it arrived Thursday morning. Then a look at the shipping label explained the speedy delivery. DUH! I’d forgotten Amazon has a warehouse in Lexington. I’d paid an extra $10 to have the package “air shipped” across town! That might be a little farther than Orville’s first flight, but unless the package came off the top shelf of the warehouse, it probably never got as far off the ground as he did.