Recently, I began working for a major retailer in their warehouse helping ship orders to eager customers awaiting their next treasure box of make up, electronics, nonperishable food stuffs, toys and personal lubricants. I stood at my packing station and began to feel an unsettling feeling. It was the same feeling I experienced watching those dairy cow videos on YouTube where the cow is milked to death and then dragged out of the barn by a tractor because it cannot walk. I am that cow. Ok, maybe not literally but I was seeing real connections here.
I looked down the never ending line of packing stations. Some had people working in them and some were empty. I pondered why these people were here and why they had not taken the company by it's balls and made changes that could improve their lives and make the work less grueling. I, of course, was there because I needed to prove to the bank that I had a legit income so they would give me a loan for a reliable car; I'm sure we all have our reasons. Why? Why had nothing been done? Why were we all slaving away in a hot warehouse securing anal massagers, Tide laundry detergent and Barbie dolls with bubble wrap for a wage that wouldn't even support one human in today's high dollar market? I felt like maybe I was the one needing the Anal-eze.
I became determined to let everyone know what dairy cows they had become. I was determined to change this system! I kept packing my little boxes and sending them off to their happy homes. I thought to myself, "I am here for a reason and it is to break us free from this cycle of bullshit." I was ready to take down "the man."
After a few days getting to know my fellow workers, and not clueing them into my plans for freedom, I began to see things a bit differently. I began to realize that they, like myself, were here because they chose to be. They know what's happening. And they're ok with it. What The Fuck? Doesn't everyone want to be freed from the yoke? Maybe they just need to shown what they're missing. So many wrenches in my plan!
I pondered this for days, maybe not days but hours for sure, before accepting this idea that we all don't need saving. In fact, we all walk different paths and have differing needs in order to be content...happy...fulfilled. Not everyone is meant to be "woke" in the way I had intended. Some of these folks are "woke" and still choose to be here. We need workers. We need people to complete tasks necessary to keep our society going. Of course I would like for these blue collar workers to receive a healthy living wage and maybe that will happen one day. Until then they, correction...we, will take all the over time we can get.
As I dismounted my spiritual high horse, I felt the weight of reality. I felt the weight of my community as a whole. I am beginning to see things as they are and may I continue to. The real work, possibly, is administering to my community and helping where I can. I had this very idyllic picture in my head of helping everyone to go deeper into themselves, remember who they are, find peace. For now I will help as I am asked and continue to try to see things as they are...not through my pretty, rose-colored sunglasses from Disneyland.
And yes, I am, for the moment, choosing to be that dairy cow. What are you choosing?
