Doing Fine

by AJ/Skald

I could be grinding it out in a 40 hour a week office job in the States: up at the crack of dawn, commute in a tin box (stop and go traffic all the way), trapped in flourescent hell for 8 hours, chained to a desk, surrounded by lobotomized drones,....counting the minutes till 5:00pm.... then another hour or so of traffic..... home to a crappy microwave dinner, watch the boob box, soak up nationalistic propaganda, gulp microwaved food, then off to bed.

Repeat every day of my miserable life.

I actually experienced that routine several summers during undergrad. I had a scholarship from IBM and thus got (supposedly) primo intern positions every summer. Its as close to hell as Ive ever come.

Maybe those summers were pivotal. Perhaps they planted a seed of terror in my subconscious-- a horrifying fear of living that way for the rest of my life. If so, I suppose I should be grateful for the experience.

Cause no matter how bad things get on the road, its always better than corporate servitude. Given the choice between a hospital bed in Jodhpur, India (puking and shitting every 30 minutes) or a day working in an office... Ill take the dysentary & India every time.

And the same goes for Japan. The job here sucks (no surprise).... but a bad day here kicks the shit out of a "good" day of corporate monotony back home.

Sometimes I forget this. I lose perspective. I forget just how good Ive got it. Forced to do a bit of pimping for cash-- I howl like a baby burned by boiling water.

Meanwhile Im in a fascinating new country, making new friends, eating new foods, and learning something new everyday. Im not chained to a desk. Im not locked in an office. Im not selling my soul for an arms dealer, or polluter, or sweat shop, or union buster. Im not whoring for Boeing, Microsoft, Wal-Mart, or Texaco.

My situation is frustrating only relative to my highest ambitions. Relative to the everyday life of most Americans... Im living a dream. Im travelling the globe and getting paid to do so. Im making money teaching my native language and writing freelance. More or less, I go where I want to go, when I want to, how I want to......

This is the first time Ive worked full time in the last three years- and Im still exploring a new place while doing so. Ive got a best friend who is as nomadic as I am... and who is my constant travel partner. Ive got job possibilities and offers from all over the world (teaching) and can write from anywhere.

Im not a full time freelancing hobopoet yet... but compared to the majority who are trapped in corporate servitude-- Im doing just fine.

........