Untitled poem in my notes file dated August 31 2018
Hire me on a whim
Turn the other applicants down because
They didn’t ask enough questions during the interview
They lacked enthusiasm
They weren’t a good cultural fit
Pay me more than my mother makes
Working twice as many hours
Schedule free lunch and team outings
Offer craft beer in an empty kitchen with
Clean lines and exposed bulbs
Comraderie for a shared cause
Infectious cynicism
Expect nothing but the best
Set impossible goals with no resources
Crack jokes about customers I can hear across the open air office
Make fun of mistakes made because they didn’t see the button
Click the link
Check the box
Tell me I’m expected to work 40 hours a week and then high-five me when you see me waiting for a down elevator at 8pm
Put a #hustle temporary tattoo on your neck during a busy sprint week
Hold company meetings where an award is given to the person who has to smoke a bowl after work every day to keep going
Tell me I should wear a tube top to show off my new tattoo in a meeting
Remind me of how much more productive I was three months ago
Ask me what happened
Compress me down so I take up as little space as possible
Flatten me into a 2D image of a 4D person
Data nodes on a sparse, modern graph
Make me efficient and lean
Sand down the emotional edges of my personality with low wages and high demands
Remind me constantly that I can be replaced at any time
Turn me out from collegiate molds into VC-backed proving grounds
Shape my labor to fill your pockets
Pour me abundantly into the open mouths of shareholders
Shame me for discussing compensation
Fire me for trying to unionize
For not fitting in
For falling asleep because I work two jobs to stay on top of my student loans
Tell HR to clean my desk off
For a young white man who graduated two years after me