You walk into the store. At the counter, a dead-eyed employee stares dully into the distance, glazed over with the incontinent yoke capitalism harnessed them with, put them under the control of monetary capital. Enslaved them to a system, one in which those who do not sacrifice their time, their life, their soul, are left behind, shoved into the dit like so many pieces of trash. So you walk up to them, slip them a twenty, a tip. You don't know it, but that tip will be their lifeline for the next three days, even the next week. It is a reminder that, through everything, through it all, there is still human decency to be had, a human connection still present in the world and in their heart. With the tip, you lean over, whispering to them, asking "What is this thing we're in, soldier of monetary capital, o' precious walker of the night?" Their heart beats quick, and with a conspiratorial grlint in their now lively eyes, they lean to you, and whisper, so the mechanics of their continued financial imprisonment will not hear, whisper to you these words…
"To the customer I am subhuman, a nonentity
They see a coda, a line from A to B to C
If there is an if/then/but then welcome chaos
Meat to a wood chipper
Ground down by accostals, insults, flabbergasted aphorisms
As though one human can know the ins and outs of every product in a roughly acre wide store
They expect me to be a human computer
And when I am not
I am fed
Into their yawning, contemptuous maw
Their ever-seeking monetary fits of insanity
Something to talk about at home
And frame me as the villain
I work in the trash dump of humanity
And the garbage is humanity itself…
But not today. Not to you
You, who deigned to gift me with this paper
Who decided that I get to eat something extra tonight
You who gave me the truest gift of all
Relief
With this, I can sleep a little easier
With this, I won't feel os bad buying that snack that gets me through
With this, I can fuel my continued embrace of capital
With this, I can survive
Whilst they may be legion
The leaders of capital
The worker
And the tipper
We share a special bond
Thank you
And have a good day!"