we're happy little worker-drones,
as bright as bright can be.
we wear our little business suits
to breakfast lunch and tea...

Yeah yeah yeah, i've got it fucking easy, i've had it easy. so i should quit whining and be happy, right? fuck off. just because i've got it "easier" than someone else doesn't mean i'm happy, doesn't mean i know what i want to do. just because i'm not homeless and don't get shot at daily doesn't mean my life is shiny-happy, because there's more to life than your basic needs. i was born into a society where our basic needs are pretty much catered to - i'm grateful for that, really i am. but it means that my world has the luxury of allowing for other needs.

it's not enough just to eat in this society, and that's nothing to do with anything i've said or done. that was already here, so don't even try to start on me for that. precisely because of the advantages we have, we're expected to do so much more, achieve so much more, be so much happier i suppose. because everybody's is happy nowadays, right? right. sure. we're all happy to be worker bees with a number, indexed suits with pigeonholed ambitions.

well fucking hello world, "generatioNEXT" (yeah, thanks for that one pepsi...) didn't get their morals from the fifties and sixties, or even the seventies. we were born in the late 70s, grew up through the 80s and 90s. we live in subcultures, not the one big mass you had. sure, we conform. but at least we conform to a slightly smaller group, maybe something we actually feel some affinity with. we didn't ALL pick the same one. we'd all be outcasts in your world, i guess that's the problem.

i take issue with the suit requirement. ok, i'll say it up front - OF FUCKING COURSE I'LL WEAR ONE. just like every other bastard. i think Jeff Koyen says it pretty well, although not responding to this topic:

...you'll dye that hair back to brown, hit the Gap for a pair of Khakis, get that job, and pay your own rent. Just like the rest of us working shits.

but it shits me that people act so strangely when i mention it... i'll admit that to me the suit is like a symbol for many things that i hate. but why are the clothes so fucking important? what i'm wearing won't help you make money, won't make me a better consultant or worker drone. all it does is make me wear something i wouldn't otherwise go near. i suppose it's because today's business community has weak hearts, they go all funny if they see anything other than a suit. effete shits.

i wonder when we finally get to top management positions, will we change? it's not like we're phased by dyed hair, clothes other than suits or even the odd piercing. it doesn't bother us. we don't think that dyed hair means you're drug-fucked or irresponsible, we don't think that wearing black means you're a satanist, we don't think that long hair means you're strange. we can deal with it, it's demystified. i suppose when we eventually start running things the kids will come up with something new that will shock us.

but it doesn't change the fact that i'll be wearing that fucking suit for the majority of my fucking working life. think about it - during your useful working life you spend more time at work than anywhere else. 40 hours at work, minimum. add another 10 hours a week for travelling. if you stay at all late or go in on the weekends, then you're working more than sleeping (8 hours x 7 days = 56 hours/week asleep). you're certainly working more than doing anything you want to do.

so; out of the 168 hours in a week, we've knocked out about 106 of them between sleep, work and travelling to work. consider the fact you're probably too tired to do much more than get home eat and flake out during the week, and you're left with 32 hours in the weekend. knock out 8 hours to shop, clean and do other domestic shit... being very generous. you've got 24 hours, assuming your weekends are your own.

24 hours. what's that.... 14% of your life? think about it. you're working yourself to death to be free for 14% of your life... and people worry about what you're wearing to do it.

21/9/98

P.S. - Ties. what the fuck are they for, anyway? do we need to hide the buttons or something?? they're fucking uncomfortable, seriously expensive and totally unneccesary. just though i'd point that out.