No Deal

My humanity for a paycheck is too big an ask for me.

They’ll say this isn’t what this is, but it is.

They want our humanity when they make us work 40 hour weeks leaving little to no room for life, family, hobbies, and things that make you feel alive.

They want our humanity when they make us beg for PTO to get a check up while the department exec denies your request from their iPhone while golfing for the third time this week.

They want our humanity with their stupid hierarchical structures full of power tripping and made up roles.

They want our humanity when they make us beg for a 2% raise while the cost of living has tripled and shareholders continue to make more money than god himself. 

They want our humanity when they won’t allow retail workers to sit down during a shift.

They can’t sit down, y’all.

They want our humanity when they think that nonprofit workers, because they are passionate, should be willing to make huge sacrifices on income, survival, and mental health.

They want our humanity every time they blame the workers for the negligence, disregard, and ignorance of the CEO… and then you hear layoffs are coming.  

These companies suck the life, and the joy, and the talent, and the creativity right out of us all while making record profits for share holders.

They’ve sold our humanity to feed their lavish lifestyles, masking their empty souls.

Well my humanity for a paycheck is too big an ask for me. 

I’ve decided I don’t want to play this game anymore.

Instead,

I want to rest. 

I want to plunge my hands into the earth’s dirt.

I want to take midday naps, belly up, with my dog.

I want to work part time so I can have space to heal and move and create. 

I want to do different things and learn new things because forcing a human to choose one thing to do for the rest of their lives is inhumane.

I want to build community.

I want to be present, in my body and in my life.

I want to find love, all kinds, forms, and experiences of love. 

I want deep, perspective shifting conversations and ‘take my breath away’ belly laughs.

I want to eat lunch in cute cafes where I’ll flirt with the gays and the theys. 

I want to breathe and exhale.

I want to calm my nervous system. 

I want to clean my house.

I want to go camping with my kid. 

I want to sit with myself.

I want to write. 

I want a life.

So I’m sorry. I can not play this game. 

Because people who look like me have worked far too long for far too little. 

You all take too much and you give next to nothing. 

My humanity for a paycheck is too big an ask for me.