I'm younger and fortunately have never worked dangerous jobs. But I also struggled to relate. Maybe it's because I'm hung up on the fact that the narrator has the entire day (after getting...
I'm younger and fortunately have never worked dangerous jobs. But I also struggled to relate.
Maybe it's because I'm hung up on the fact that the narrator has the entire day (after getting punched) to do whatever he wants. It would be different if, for instance, he was forced to spend 8 hours pretending to look busy. That would be boring and mentally draining, and he would be wasting most of his life (almost 1/3, with the other 1/3 sleeping, and the remainder including commute, getting dressed, housekeeping, etc.)
But OP could wake up, get punched, then spend the rest of the day working on the hobbies, etc. that he feels deprived of. If he feels it's not fair that they're paying him to do nothing, he can spend his ample free time volunteering and donate the part of his salary that he doesn't need. If he feels Chris is taking advantage of him, can he re-frame it as "the company is paying me an absurd amount of money, all for the privilege of punching me five days a week"?
I'm younger and fortunately have never worked dangerous jobs. But I also struggled to relate.
Maybe it's because I'm hung up on the fact that the narrator has the entire day (after getting punched) to do whatever he wants. It would be different if, for instance, he was forced to spend 8 hours pretending to look busy. That would be boring and mentally draining, and he would be wasting most of his life (almost 1/3, with the other 1/3 sleeping, and the remainder including commute, getting dressed, housekeeping, etc.)
But OP could wake up, get punched, then spend the rest of the day working on the hobbies, etc. that he feels deprived of. If he feels it's not fair that they're paying him to do nothing, he can spend his ample free time volunteering and donate the part of his salary that he doesn't need. If he feels Chris is taking advantage of him, can he re-frame it as "the company is paying me an absurd amount of money, all for the privilege of punching me five days a week"?
I'm probably just reading it too literally.