Bottom Dogs Intro:
“When we think of
America, and of her huge success,
we
never realize how many failures have gone, and still go to build up that
success.
It is not till you live in
America, and go a little under the surface, that you begin to see
how terrible
and brutal it is; the mass of failure that nourishes the roots of the gigantic
tree of dollars. . . ”
Edward Dahlbergs 1930 novel
he didnt think much of America
why should he
it wasnt thinking much of
itself these days
the House had thrown its hands
up against the black President
and rather than work as they
were elected ostensibly to do
they
devolved into Maddows “worthless, nonfunctioning, pathetic excuse for a branch
of Government”
he hadnt devolved
like many others he lost his job
and though he hadnt worked in
years
when you havent
when
you have stood apart separate away from it
you
begin to observe things you hadnt when you were in it upclose and personal
youre better able to hear its belly percolate a bad stomach its murmurings
castigations queries and sly malefeasances
you
witness its haste and lull efficiency
and lack
you see its exertion exhaustion frustration elation its blue fulfillment and yellow balks
Now you recognize its Society and Dirge
you distinctively hear the nattering and numbing rote
-- The rote! The rote!
-- The rote! The rote!
“The horror!
The horror!” from Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness that he cried over the
callcenter floor when
it seemed there wasnt one among them who would dare go outside
the box
and join him
he never knew if any of his
confident and educated coworkers knew that line
a beautiful sublime matter
and if they knew it
they either didnt let on or seem to care
they genuflected to what Upstairs deemed was
or wasnt extraneous -- superficial
--
and because his dink didnt provide
traction or a foot up in their course or track of
business -- non-tangential -- it wasnt
anything the Entity might use in its very
very
serious Game
The rote! The rote!
seemed profound to him elegant
he chose it particularly to abrade the confine the cloister of their
workspace
for Securitys Sake
sealed windows
locked
doors
air-conditioning
heating
recirculated
air
filthy overhead vents and ill-maintained filters
for the Sake of Security
the doors which held the
outside out
were not to be breached or
opened
they
wore chained placards like gang jewelry declaring NO EXIT
though directly above them
electrical lightboxes
lit orange
lit orange
that
silently and modestly tried to redeem the heavy and glass paned doors EXIT
Corporate policy doesnt get it
both ways and as long as he was there he fought them
in the End
it was easier for the Company
to sellout than fire him
and these many years later looking
In and Back from Outside
his confident honest tact
comforted him
his utter tactlessness made him
smile
2312, Thursday,
28 8. 14
