30/09/2024
Heart-wrenching... a modern allegory all too familiar.
RAMIFICATIONS
Bill
Was one of the cogs in the machinery of
The Corporation
He worked in management
As so many do, doing what must be
Done, over and over and over again
One day, his boss, we'll call him
Troy, on orders from on high
Told Bill to fire his employee, Joe
A reliable, hard-working, good-natured
Kind of guy, who'd worked there
Many years, but like every body else was
Ultimately expendable
There were financial issues, after all
According to the suits, and the Bottom Line
Needed some fixing
Of course, the suits didn't know Joe
Neither did Troy
The suits didn’t even know Bill
They worked in high-rises in another
City somewhere, and occasionally
Issued proclamations and
Decrees
Now Bill wasn't too happy about
Firing Joe, especially now
Just before Christmas
He liked Joe
But—
He had a job to do
Don't we all?
So, fire him he did
In a matter of fact way
Without any emotion
Joe was stunned
Never saw it coming
But he maintained his dignity
Cleaned out his desk promptly
Without saying a word
And was escorted out of the building
By security
Joe's wife took it hard
What were they to do?
A family to feed, already living
Paycheck to paycheck, bills piling high
And who would hire Joe—in this economy?!
With very few jobs and so many looking
Month after month, Joe sent out letters
Made calls and knocked on doors
His self-esteem plummeting with every
Rejection, every day dying
A little bit more
The family falling deeper and deeper into
Insurmountable debt
Until
Joe finally gave out
Couldn't take any more, couldn't
Face his wife and his children
Couldn't look himself in the
Now broken mirror
He took his own life
And that was the end
Of Joe...
His wife and his kids—
No husband, no father
What can you do, but
Pick up the pieces
Somehow, some way
They're out there somewhere, even today
But no one knows what happened to them
Bill wouldn't have known about any of this
Had he not glanced at a newspaper
On the counter one day where he stopped
For coffee and a danish
And it hit him hard
Knowing what he knew
Knowing he had fired Joe
Knowing the company could have kept Joe
That they were cutting corners that
Didn't need to be cut
That others had to take on more work
Joe's work and work harder, work longer
More stress, less pay
This was the way, the Corporate way
But Bill
Couldn't let it go
He wasn't that kind of a guy
He cared too much, thought too much
It haunted him, Joe's death
He became irritable, absent-minded
Disillusioned and he took his frustrations
Home
To his wife and his children
As tensions built and arguments
Raged, his marriage fell apart
Now he lives alone in a small
Apartment
He quit his job and struggles with
Alimony, works as a clerk at the
Grocery store
And watches TV with a vacant stare
Meanwhile, Troy knows
Nothing
Of any of this
He's doing quite well
He got a promotion and a six-figure bonus
Not long after Bill fired Joe
Now he works with the suits and calls
Them by name, attends
Lavish parties making tight-ship decisions
To please his bosses
And bolster the efficacy of
His beneficent bottom line.
~ Laurence Overmire
[Image by unknown]
