The guy who won Alone a few seasons back said now he’d be able to get his kid’s eye fixed. Maybe help his dad retire. The guy who lost that year looked like he’d barely survived a camp. You could count the disks in his spine. He was an electrician with a rage issue. I didn’t like him much at first. Not that he needs me saying so. But near the end, watching him break down, his body racked with sobs because he was hungry and cold but if he held out another day maybe he could do something else with his life, I couldn’t help but feel for the man.
I'm up because Louie needed to be fed, but I'm glad I read this. Fuck, that TV show is a crime and so is how we treat work here. You still got it. This one is book worthy, maybe a little expansion. I can't remember when I have not lived in terror of unemployment. And they like it that way.
I'm not sure if I've said this before and I can't remember if you read the comments, but God damn, this subscription is so worth it. Thanks for putting it out there.
I know a lot of Johns. I worked a shitty job where six of us had to use a bathroom with a paneled ceiling that was precariously under repair for months. When we ranted about the situation, Teresa said she hoped she got hurt because it was the only retirement she would ever get. Then one day she did after climbing on the sink and using the toilet lid to dislodge the vent work overhead, causing them to fall down on her head--and then just in case that wasn't enough, she used the lid to smash up her wrist. It took a long time but she got paid. You work with what you got.
It’s a good whiplash, the big belly laugh I get from a sentence that just works and tickles the fuck out of me and then wham some serious shit that resonates too close to my own experience so my neck needs chiropractic.
For some reason I keep thinking about Cheyenne, up on the Washita. Some cool ass tall grass country north outta Elk City. Gotta get the fuck of the Interstate to see it but it’s there. Gracias for keeping us fanboys in da loop.
Alone sounds like The Hunger Games sans combat. The promise of bread in payment for the circus, I guess. I wonder how long before we return to the spectacle of the Colosseums? "This jobs gonna kill you. No, literally."
Your essay was worth a thousand times more. The TV contests too pay obscenely little money, which adds to the heartbreaking gawking factor. 'Look at all these poor people scramble at the chance to win survival money.'
I'm up because Louie needed to be fed, but I'm glad I read this. Fuck, that TV show is a crime and so is how we treat work here. You still got it. This one is book worthy, maybe a little expansion. I can't remember when I have not lived in terror of unemployment. And they like it that way.
Fuck.
I have enjoyed watching Alone but you've articulated many of the undercurrents running through my brain while doing so.
Carlin famously said they call it the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.
I'm not sure if I've said this before and I can't remember if you read the comments, but God damn, this subscription is so worth it. Thanks for putting it out there.
I know a lot of Johns. I worked a shitty job where six of us had to use a bathroom with a paneled ceiling that was precariously under repair for months. When we ranted about the situation, Teresa said she hoped she got hurt because it was the only retirement she would ever get. Then one day she did after climbing on the sink and using the toilet lid to dislodge the vent work overhead, causing them to fall down on her head--and then just in case that wasn't enough, she used the lid to smash up her wrist. It took a long time but she got paid. You work with what you got.
This flattened me
It’s a good whiplash, the big belly laugh I get from a sentence that just works and tickles the fuck out of me and then wham some serious shit that resonates too close to my own experience so my neck needs chiropractic.
For some reason I keep thinking about Cheyenne, up on the Washita. Some cool ass tall grass country north outta Elk City. Gotta get the fuck of the Interstate to see it but it’s there. Gracias for keeping us fanboys in da loop.
Alone sounds like The Hunger Games sans combat. The promise of bread in payment for the circus, I guess. I wonder how long before we return to the spectacle of the Colosseums? "This jobs gonna kill you. No, literally."
Your essay was worth a thousand times more. The TV contests too pay obscenely little money, which adds to the heartbreaking gawking factor. 'Look at all these poor people scramble at the chance to win survival money.'