The 9-5 Shift
At times I feel like there isn't anything scarier than going into work to complete your daily routine. You leave your hopes and dreams of what you could've been at the door, and you take the form of someone you don't even recognize.
The friend of your coworkers, the spineless yesman for your superiors, the ruthless authoritative figure for your employees.
You find yourself pushing people you once considered friends past their mental and physical capabilities, taking shortcuts just to be the hero for billionaires who will never know your name. Soon you’ll bargain away pieces of yourself until you are built entirely new, but it never goes away;
The eyes. They're at the water cooler, and in every corner. Just outside of your periphery you can feel the malice, because they know better. Once you start giving away parts of yourself to a company that never really loved you, you can't undo the fact that they all think you're fake. It's too late, they've already seen Oz behind the curtain.
Those stares will follow you in your dreams and you'll ask yourself again and again, “why couldn't I do it differently?” You know why though, it was the sheer desperation to make ends meet. It was the fear of being left in the dust, but even without the greed, it was because you thought you were making a difference. You really thought they meant it when they told you that you did a good job.
You'll begin to fantasize about taking sick days and never returning to the nest of loneliness you’ve made for yourself while climbing the corporate ladder.. And you know what the worst part is? When your clock goes off at 5am tomorrow morning, you get to do it all over again.
