John Dullaghan

Fear of God John Dullaghan Lrg edition

Birds have a bad habit of finding their way into the cavernous warehouse where I?m working, and we had another flying, fluttering freak-out going on in there today. The damned thing flew right in through the door we had left open because the air conditioner wasn?t working, again, and it was hot as hell in there. Bugs often follow the sweet and sour scents into the plant as well, and quickly end up dead, usually stuck to a clearly marked can of some thick and nasty chemical material. We humans just put up with it, the ?Fear Of God? is in each and every one of us, we need these jobs. Like the birds who came before it, this unlucky bastard had it?s own ?Fear Of God? in it, flying terrified in tight circles, in complete panic mode, looking for any way out, and failing miserably. Like the ill-fated ?canary in a coalmine?, birds don?t usually last very long, unless they jump right on any chance to get the hell outta there. First, there are the chemicals we use, along with the exhaust from all the forklifts, that work together to create quite a nasty toxic cocktail for us to breathe in, especially when you consider the lack of ventilation. With this wicked combination of sometimes offensive, oppressive and dangerous odors, top flight speed and no known escape route, this bird had tired itself out, mentally and physically. The flustered bird finally found a spot to rest, way up under one of the huge warehouse lights, where it momentarily froze, considering it?s options. Still on the lookout, it began snapping it?s head around with quick twitches, kinda sideways and in odd increments. It?s mind was now wrapping itself around this completely new and different problem, when compared to the freedom of being outside, and dealing with more familiar problems. The birds do occasionally escape after a while, but the door must be left open, lights turned out, and all machines turned off for them. If and when the open door is the only light, then, and only then, the birds can usually find it. ?Well, whaddaya know??, Bob said happily on his next lap around as this particular bird made a bee-line for the door, immediately after the lights were shut off, ?That son of a gun actually found the way out!? Eventually, after going through this drill a few times, I realized that these unfortunate creatures epitomize perfectly those of us trapped in jobs that we cannot stand, but have to keep, with no idea how to get out of the predicament. Seemingly hidden in plain sight, the way out is readily available, just tough to locate, and the exiting maneuver is a very difficult one to execute. It doesn?t matter the looks, intellect, talent, imagination, or even lack of these, general disposition or other qualifications one claims, you?ll have to catch plenty of breaks to escape the nearly inevitable life sentence. Breaks big and breaks small, you?ll need to receive a few of them all, from people with money, connections, or some connection into the network of money and power. For those of us not blessed in this way, those of us without even one of these key lifelines, we will need a whole lot of additional help to escape the vicious cycle that is the average working drone?s life, and help is hard to find, whoever you are, human or animal.