01. Writer
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Christopher Michalik

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02. Theme
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Work

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03. MUSIC INSPIRATION
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The Black Keys:
Lo/Hi

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04. WRITING
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Hustle culture: A lifestyle where career has become such a priority in your life or the environment that you work in that other aspects of being human – such as hobbies, family-time, and self care – often take a back seat.

In every job that I’ve had, coworkers have always described others as “hard workers” or “lazy,” rather than individualized identifiers about their personality, hobbies, or passions. I suppose that makes sense, being that we were at work. It never fails to make me uncomfortable. I want to know about Chloe’s boyfriend troubles, Meagan’s flourishing political career, and Evan’s weird fascination with Limp Bizkit. 

You get low, like a valley

“Sometimes, it feels like I’m the only one who doesn’t want to do what he doesn’t want to do.”

Everybody has a job, nobody likes doing heir job, but we all have to do it anyway to get by. That’s a pretty normal sentiment. So why and how do people allow the accumulation of wealth and material goods to control their entire existence? I’ve never been excited to go to work. Work is simply a means to survive. I think that a lot of people work so that they can live. Food, water, shelter, and clothing are seldom free or even cheap. What I’ve found is that fewer and fewer people are working to live, and more are living to work. Even those with full-time jobs spend what little free time they have in order to run their side hustles and accumulate more wealth. I see little point in working to live if your life consists of nothing but work.

High, like a bird in the sky

“Material needs no longer exist. The challenge is to improve yourself. To enrich yourself. Enjoy it.”

Why do we still work so much? I’m not against effort, labor, or being productive, but I suppose I am against jobs as they are structured under capitalism. Since 1979, worker productivity has improved by 62%, due to advancements in technology and education, while compensation for this work has only improved by about 17%. That’s a 3.5-times difference in growth rate and economists call this the productivity pay gap. Before the 80s, productivity and pay grew together, with workers seeing the benefits from the increase in productivity. Recently, rather than seeing increasing wages or a reduction of working hours, the rise in consumerism resulted in people buying and producing more stuff, and working just as much. People are now more obsessed with the accumulation of things than ever before, when they could be more concerned with personal development, chasing their passions, and seeking enlightenment.

You get low ‘cause you’re angry

The relationship between boss and employee is push/pull, with the employer seeking to squeeze the most work out of someone for the least amount of money, and the worker seeking to do the least amount of work for the best pay. Hustle culture in the US bleeds into people’s social relationships when poor workers are viewed as lazy, low value, and other general negative traits. I’m a poor worker. I place my priorities on things that bring me joy or make me a better person, and I’ve yet to have any jobs that fill those descriptions. If you have had jobs like that, you’re extremely lucky and I’m perpetually envious of you. I want to do my job, get paid, and get on with my life. Because of this combination, the people that I’ve worked with can form a negative opinion about me, sometimes before even getting to know me. I can form a negative opinion about me. It’s obviously not something that I’m proud of. I often have feelings of self-loathing based on societal hard-working, hustle-culture standards and how I am diametrically opposed to them. I have developed severe anxieties about working with or for someone who likes me, terrified that they will no longer see any value in our friendship or they will lose sight of what makes me a worthwhile person. 

Low, High, High, Low

Stop working so much. Experience art. Learn a musical instrument. Read a book. Teach yourself calculus. Introduce yourself to new academic fields. Dive into your friends’ passions. Meditate. 

All things we cannot do while firmly caught in the stranglehold of being a have-not.

01. Writer
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Christopher Michalik

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02. Theme
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Almost

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03. MUSIC INSPIRATION
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PUP:
Dark Days

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04. WRITING
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I almost made it. I almost did it.

I was granted the abilities,
I was afforded the opportunities,
But the great responsibility didn't come with great power,
And my belt no utilities.
That time I was almost a super hero.

You honed your craft,
You rehearsed your act,
But when your knees grew weak and your palms sweaty,
You couldn't keep it in your pants.
That time you were almost a successful comedian.

Superhuman strength nor inspirational charisma
Couldn't un-dig this hole
More Zod than Superman, the Brock to your Peter.
If we're all the heroes of our own stories,
Then who are the leaders.
So before we become greeters and eaters and mugs,

Let's remember that we almost made it and we can almost make it again.

01. Writer
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Christopher Michalik

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02. Theme
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Commute

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03. MUSIC INSPIRATION
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Cake: 
Long Line of Cars

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04. WRITING
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In the second half of 2013, I was working on a contract with Ford Motor Company as an ergonomic engineer near their headquarters in Dearborn, MI. Commuting from my parents' house in Rochester Hills, MI took me anywhere between 1 hour 15 minutes and 1 hour 45 minutes, depending on the rush hour traffic. Working 8-9 hours a weekday, this was my first real taste of the feeling of sinking my entire life into my career. Every weekday for 6 months was tasked with the same routine. Wake up at 7, leave by 7:45, arrive at 9, leave at 6, get home at 7:30, eat dinner with the family, sleep at 10.

You don't wonder where we're going or remember where we've been

If I'm honest with myself, the commute was the most enjoyable part of the work week. It was enough time to listen to an entire album or podcasted interview. This is where Cake came in. I had only really started listening to the band regularly a few months prior to this, so everything I heard from them was fresh and new. Sitting and staring forward, making sure I didn't collide with all the other tired and frustrated drivers didn't seem so bad when I had something to soothe me. At first, I didn't like “Long Line of Cars.”

There's no single explanation, there's no central destination

Now, I know to listen to a song multiple times, on different days, with different moods, before I decide my feelings about a piece. I remember getting frustrated by the repetitive bass line, the long, droning vocals, and the theme coinciding and highlighting my annoyance with being stuck in traffic. I'm not sure what it was, but I eventually came to appreciate Cake's ability to turn a boring, routine, stuttering voyage into something beautiful. The daily annoyances turned into a melody. The bumper-to-bumper chronic braking turned into a percussive rhythm. The anxiety of trying not to get killed by a road rage-infused disgruntled commuter transposed into a soothing, droning vocal line that almost sounded like John McCrea got bored mid-note. The resentment of other drivers not knowing the rules of the road being contrasted by the lyrics appreciation of every other driver having a destination, but the traffic as a whole having no real destination.

So this long line of cars is trying to break free

The mounting inspiration on my feeling like I held a deeper understanding of the piece coupled with my previous contempt for the piece felt like too much to handle. Even now, when I listen to the song, it brings back flashbacks of I-75 southbound, mounted at a vantage point to see the impossible amount of vehicles in front and behind me, feeling like I could never escape, makes me anxious. I'm glad I no longer endure the troubles of a commute via car on long highways, and this song makes me appreciate the beauty of that history, and the relief of escaping it.