Question and Answer

So Tim, how have things changed for you since you decided to grow up, decided to move on past the immaturity and become a contributing member of adult society? Do you feel your life has gained meaning? Do you cherish the job security and health insurance that comes with the nine-to-five life?

Well, let me see. How many ways are there to say “No”? How can I show you how hollow my life feels? I feel like a parenthetical expression with nothing to add. I could lie, I could pretend to enjoy sitting in my working class cage. Pretend to enjoy filling my days with the same self-referencing loop of menial paperwork and empty tasks. Get up, shower, 4/5 train to Brooklyn bridge, coffee, cubicle, lunch, cubicle, gym, 4/5 train to 125th, bed. Add in the more-often-than-not drinking binge and you have my life in 10 easy steps. Lest I forget to mention the most exciting part of the day: ripping of the previous day’s Dilbert to reveal the day’s pearl of nine-to-five parody. What has my life become?

Come, wake me from my stupor. Grab me by the shoulders and shake until I collapse, until I remember what it feels like to be alive. Until I remember what it is to desire something better. Until I remember that I once had motivation. I’ll be damned if this is how it will end…