Work
Greg's alarm went off for the 3rd time that morning. It woke up 3 out of 5 rooms on the floor, and it's the only one that could actually wake him up. He looked over at his closet and decided that he was going to dress up today. he thought it might actually help him save his job. Greg hated going to work, it's probably why he hadn't been in a week and the only reason he was going back is because of the 11$ an hour they gave him. He was nervous, he knew that becasue he hadn't been there in a week he was going to have to talk to his supervisor and try to keep his job. He was a telemarketer and he really didn't enjoy what he did at all, but he did enjoy the money. He rolled out of bed, put on wrinkle resistant kakis an Abercrombie button down shirt. He popped in his ipod and walked to the bus stop. It was 12:30 and he only had a half hour to get to work, he couldn't afford to be late on the day he needed to pursuade his boss to give him his job back. The bus dropped him off at the train station at 1:50 and he walked the rest of the way to work. He got there and everyone was standing outside, it was obvious as he walked up that the others supervisors weren't happy with Greg. Greg wasn't even a superviosr he was an associate supervisor and not showing up to work was apparently frowned upon when you were an associate supervisor. He didn't care, Greg refused to ever be one of those kids who never left telefund. One of those kids who started as a caller, became a caller mentor, became an associate supervisor, became a supervisor, and then when they got ou tinto thre real world and their degree failed them they stuck around to work whenever they could. Maybe that's why he never took his job seriously, or maybe he was just lazy he didn't know, and didn't really care either way. All he knew was that at this point he wanted to keep his job and in order to do that he was going to have to kiss some ass. He waited outside going over and over in his head what he was going to say to to his boss as to why he should be allowed to keep his job. He finally felt prepared for the conversation when he got upstairs when he found out that she wasn't there. This made him angry, not only could he not accomplish the task o knowing weather or not he still had a job, but if he left and didn't work that day he knew it would look bad to the other supervisors. He looked on the sign up sheet and realized he wasn't even scheduled to work, he still had the option to if he wanted, but decided that it would be best to just go home and use his time to study for finals. He said goodbye to everyone and began the walk back to the train station. He was going to walk to his fraternity house just to see if anyone was up, but on his way he saw a bus that would bring him back to his room; unfortunately he was on the wrong side of the street from the bust stop and the bus had allready passed. Luckily he caught eye contact w/ the driver and she motioned that she would stop. He got on and thanked her and she responded w/ a smile. He took the first seat up front across from a heavy set man, who greated him loudly and rather obnoxiously with, "Ya just made it didn't ya" and another fellow who didn't really have any kind of expression at all, but only seemed able to make and hold eye contact. Some more stragglers got on the bus after greg and the larger gentleman commented sayin, "Ohh you went shopping, what did you get for me? Where did you go?". The shoppers didn't respond, but only looked at eachother and then at him wide eyed, like they were young again and learning for the first time how to handle a mentally challanged person's antics(who actually makes random friendly conversation on a bus anyway?). Greg was attempting to major in psychology, his mother was a social worker and because of this he presumed to bleieve he knew what they needed; compassion. Greg had put on his headphones and began to listen to music, but instead of tunning the world out he decided to smile and make some kind of connection with the gentlemen sitting across from him. He watched the heavy set man, he smiled a lot and peered out curiously through his thick glasses. He talked to his counterpart even though he did not respond or add anythying to what he was saying. He talked of eating hot dogs and going for a walk in the fresh air later and he did so with a great deal of delight. It was then, looking at these two "retarted" individuals that Greg came to an amazing conclusion; perhaps he was the unfortunate one. He spends his time cleaning up after all his shortcommings, he never studies as much as he should, never goes to the gym as much as he wants, never shuts off the televisions or stops playing video games like his studies require, and when he is close to doing any of these things his mind tells him he isn't having enough fun and that he needs to be more social. These two "handicap" gentlemen have it right, "they do not work at jobs they hate so they can buy shit they do not need. They do not worry about studying relentlessly so they can get jobs to contribut to society and hopefully further some grate aspect of humanity. They are not doctors trying to save yet another meaningless life, nor are they lawyers working to make themselves and their clients another pile of money; yet they were still happy, still content. Higher level thinking, mainly consciousness, is a plague, a practical joke by God. We spend our lives desperately trying to attain some happyness that is impossible to get through money, possesions, or power. Greg wondered why he was where he was, in college, working to get his degree. He was never going to be the richest, or the best looking, or the smartest. Indeed what would ever distinguish Greg from anyone else? These two men were happy, they had eachother as friends and they had small pleasures like hotdogs and fresh air to look forward to. That's what Greg wanted, to be totally content w/ a friend or two, some good food, and fresh air. As the two hadicap gentlemen left the bus Greg couldn't help but look after them and think, "What fortunate men, to not have to worry about weather they will ever be rich enough or smart enough to feel happy". Before the bus pulled away a van pulled up in front of the bus and the bus drivers daughter got out and got onto the bus. When she got on the bus driver made her come over and give her a kiss on the cheek. This brought a smile even greater than the one I recieved when I first got on the bus. Greg was struck again. Here was this woman, a single mother, driving a bus, probably had another job as well; she would never be considered extra special nor would she ever be wealthy or famous. Yet, this is what distinguished her, the happiness brought by her daughter, the joy of loving something more than yourself. It's something that seperates her and makes her great. Many people might look down on this single mother, might judge her; Greg could only think about how happy she seemed to be. She was happy working a dead beat job, happy with the young child that ran up the bus steps to give her a kiss on the cheek. Greg had a chance at the world at becomming whatever he wanted at acheiving greatness, but all he could do when he got back to his room was watch television or distract himself with counterstrike. Greg wanted to know what he needed for happyness, what he needed to stop waisting his life on false pleasures. Trully there is more to life than school, a job, and money.
More to come......
More to come......