More Of The Same
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- Ch: 04 of Wage Slave -
This day, like the last, will be the same. Arrive at the same time, wear the same clothes, do the same work. The conversations will be the same, the jokes the same, even the ‘unexpected problems’ will be the same. Monotonous repetition. Day in, day out.
If this was a work of fiction, here is where the story would begin to deviate from the norm. An event would occur to start the story rolling. A catalyst would present itself.
But this is not fiction, it is your life. No matter how much you hope for change, it will not come. Each day will be the same. There is no respite to be found at home either. You will return home from the same day of work to the same embrace from the same partner. You will eat the same food whilst watching the same television shows. On weekends you will associate with the same friends and discuss the same politics and come to the same conclusions. You will go to the same bar and drink the same beer and watch the same sport.
Monotony.
There is no escaping this sameness. The world itself is the same. Different politicians, same results, same wars, and same broken promises. Different sporting teams, celebrities and music will rise to popularity, but these will cycle over the years in the same predictive patterns.
New communication technologies have given rise to the same kind of performers. The same evangelicals are preaching to the same receptive ears. Youth culture, whilst different from your own, is similarly inane and confusing to you. The trends change, but your reaction to them remains the same.
Ambivalence.
Nothing changes, everything remains the same, day in, day out. The years pass, yet it stays the same. Promotions lead to the same stress, same pressure and the same impossible expectations.
If this were a work of fiction, here is where the protagonists would be training, learning, and growing. Plot events would cause change, cogs would click into place and events would be set in motion leading towards a final calamity. There would be tension, doubt and suspense. A feeling of unknowing.
Excitement.
But this is not fiction, it is your life. No matter how much you hope for change, it will not come. Things have and will continue to remain the same. True, there was a time where life seemed to have variety. When you were excited to get up, and just be. Excited for what life would bring.
But those days have long past, and you are not quite sure where they went. So you hold onto them in memory.
“Back in the day I …”
“Remember that time when we …”
“We were all so free back then …”
You sit in the same chair, remembering the same events, having the same recollections, feeling the same regrets.
Another day is here. You wake, unenthused. You know what will happen. You have lived this day. You will live it again. It will be the same. There is no reason to expect otherwise.
If this were a work of fiction, the protagonist would be facing their final challenge. The epic battle between good and evil would be reaching a climax, the resolution to the conflict that has been building. As a hero, they will return vindicated. Evolved, transcended and grown. They will have changed, ready to face the next challenge that life throws their way.
But this is not fiction, it is your life. No matter how much you hope for change, it will not come. There is no final challenge. Just more of the same.
