New semester in what seems like my endless quest for a BA in IT Management from BC Open University. Two courses this term: “Open Communication” and “e-Business in a Competitive Environment” (which, so far, isn’t as silly as its title).
Doing some research for one of the discussion questions in the e-Biz course led me to a 1999 transcription of a conversation between Paul Solman and Jeff Bezos (of Amazon.com fame) that had a creepy intro:
PAUL SOLMAN: What is this?
JEFFREY BEZOS, CEO, Amazon.com: This is my World Trade Center escape kit. It’s a —
PAUL SOLMAN: World Trade Center escape kit?
JEFFREY BEZOS: — a flashlight and, you know, a honking Swiss Army knife. It even has pliers.
PAUL SOLMAN: He keeps it on hand because when New York’s World Trade Center was bombed a few years ago, folks were stuck in the elevators.
JEFFREY BEZOS: And it turned out if you’d had this simple tool you could have carved your way out of those elevators.
PAUL SOLMAN: Carved your way out of the elevators?
JEFFREY BEZOS: Yes. No Problem. So I got my whole family these World Trade Center escape kits.