tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904219782540965444.post4063427700398999128..comments2024-03-14T04:06:54.124-04:00Comments on GENKAKU-AGAIN (adam fisher): "all around me is beauty"genkakuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12135705172119950326noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4904219782540965444.post-25209572678718447602011-08-25T15:25:51.687-04:002011-08-25T15:25:51.687-04:00Over the last year I had been doing social work an...Over the last year I had been doing social work and giving a hand to a family’s business without thinking much about money and merchants, while the financial situation of the family declined. Earlier this year, as the money pot slowly ran out, the pressure at home arrived at a point where I felt an urge to get a job in a supermarket, restocking shelves, doing what some might call a “slave’s job” to help pay the family bills. When I picked that job, it felt as if, out of so many merchant’s slave jobs out there, this one didn’t feel as much like “selling my blood (or soul)”. After all, everyone needs to wash up, eat, wash clothes, clean the house, etc. despite the fact that a supermarket fulfils many more desires than those basic needs these day.<br /><br />Yesterday, I got a phone call and today went for an interview to work as a designer in a company that produces bottled and canned drinks. It’s another “slave’s job”, only this one is somewhat better paid, a plus since my current wage isn’t enough to cover my share of the expenses at home. On a wall of their staff entrance there are a few shelves exhibiting all the products they produce and sell; beer, soft drinks and water. Looking at the whole wall picture, it was somewhat saddening to see that water only takes up a tenth, even less, of the shelf space. It felt like a snapshot of how we’ve all become so blind and complacent about what we put in our mouths, never mind what we let out.<br /><br />I get the feeling I am selling my blood or soul by taking up a job with a company selling products I don’t endorse. Yes, I’ve had one or two beers over the last year, but a company of this size doesn’t survive (not to say profit) on rare occasion consumers. On the other hand, I get the feeling this job may well be the perfect tool to tackle some prejudices, preconceptions or truths I may have left in my mind. Only a few months ago I rejected, flat-out and somewhat emotionally, the idea of putting my best abilities at the service of a company whose high profits depends on people getting highly intoxicated with beer and soft drinks. Yesterday, and after the family needs (desires?), this reason alone felt like the second best reason to take it.<br /><br />Masters and slaves, merchants and looters, soft drinks and water…<br /><br />One man’s poison is another man’s cure, right?Tiagonoreply@blogger.com