My boss has gone on holidays.
This is a rare event. My boss hardly ever takes time off. He works every day. He works every night. I’m not so sure he doesn’t sleep in the restaurant between shifts. He is Super-Boss.
That’s why his absence has induced some weird sort of panic amongst the staff. People who have been working there for over half a decade have suddenly started rushing around the kitchen trying to figure how to do things they’ve been doing for years.
It’s rather bizarre to watch.
He’s gone for two weeks. I can just see the state of the place on his return. Customers passed out on the floor from hunger. Kitchen on fire. The Blue Mountains panther sleeping on the tables, gently purring. We’ll probably have descended into some sort of Lord of the Flies scenario; we’ll have broken off into different tribes, taking pot-shots at each other across the rubble. We don’t actually have a pig’s head on a stick, but there’s plenty of meat about we can start worshipping.
That’s an idea. Perhaps we’ll break off into factions depending on what meat we prefer. My friend and I don’t eat pork or seafood, so perhaps we’ll be in the chicken tribe. Does that mean we have to hide under the sink? Or cluck?
This is all pure speculation of course. Hopefully it won’t come to this. I love my job. It’s strange to think that initially I was so reluctant to work.
I have rather an odd approach to employment. I could never see the point in it. The only reason I work at the moment is because a) I love what I do and b) it beats sitting around at home watching T.V. My parents have always told me; ‘You need to work so you can earn money’.
But here is my thought process.
Isn’t money just a human construct? Yes, we need money to buy things; food, clothing, shelter, labour… But why? Animals get on perfectly well without money. You don’t see them going out to work (except for workers bees, ants etc), or sitting in offices, or on phones saying “have you tried turning it off and on?” or serving dinner to hundreds of people, or filling out paper work… The list is endless. Why is it that humans have to make everything so complicated?
Look at nature; what work do animals do? Hunting. Gathering. Building shelters and nests. I’m not suggesting that the only real careers are in architecture or farming. I’m just saying – animals get on fine without money. They just deal with the necessities in life and get on with things.
I had a lot of time to think this over while at work the other night. I’ve been covering the boss’ shifts while he’s away. Don’t talk to me about Tuesdays. I thought sleeping was unproductive. Maybe our customers have caught word that the boss is on holidays and have been infected with the same needless panic that we have? Perhaps they think that because the boss isn’t working the food is somehow tainted and we’ll end up in a nervous heap by the end of the week, gnawing on our own feet and muttering to ourselves.
But I digress. As a stood around doing nothing I started to warm to my train of thought. If we work backwards from where humans are today (i.e. capitalist, superficial, hedonistic etc.) it raises an important question. Where did we start? Money must have been invented at some point. What did we do before that? That’s right – trading and bartering.
It’s nice to know that this noble art is still alive in the world to a degree. I’m not talking about exotic markets in the Pacific Islands, or remote mountain communities in Pakistan, or tribes in the Amazon as yet untouched by western ‘civilisation’. I’m talking about country towns on the South Coast of NSW such as the one my grandparents live in. I go down to see them when my parents and I have the time. Dad will come baring chillies which he grew himself. In exchange we get tomatoes or cucumbers. These are also provided to neighbours, who exchange them for fruits and vegetables.
It’s brilliant! If Australia’s economy came crashing down, this one town could still thrive all on its own. Why can’t we return to that; a self-sufficient community where everything is shared equally between the people? Sure it didn’t work out so well in Cuba, but they didn’t have cricket.
My point is this; existence is possible without money. We’d just have to give up our struggle for superiority over each other which unfortunately isn’t part of human nature (just look at war, politics and the midnight toy sale at Kmart).
I really don’t understand finance. There are people across the world who are living in poverty. Why can’t we just make more money for them? ‘That will throw off the whole economy’ some will say. But how? That’s just what I can’t understand. Surely the money most have been made in the first place? We didn’t just stumble across an entire economy conveniently buried in the desert. It didn’t just rain from the heavens. It’s not like coal and oil which will eventually run out. It’s made by people. Why can’t we just make enough for everyone?
What did I gain from this line of thought? A utopian ideal where the only work to do would simply be what was necessary; growing, tending, gathering and hunting for food and finding shelter. No money, no office jobs, no poverty. We’d take what we needed from the land to sustain ourselves, and we wouldn’t overstep the balance. Notice I’m describing traditional Aboriginal life; a culture that was thousands of years old until Europeans came and tried to make it as flashy and new as America.
I seem to have strayed from my original topic; but such is the way when one has nothing to do at work. Work and money still seem to me entirely unnecessary, but at least they fill in the hours. Maybe I could stick to an idea I mentioned to my friend. He’s just started a computer-repair business and I offered to help him with the advertising. I may have forced myself into his employment, and he said he couldn’t really use my help for anything, nor could he pay me. “It’s ok,” I said. “I’ll still be employed by you. I just won’t do any work, and you don’t have to pay me.”
Really, the arrangement is just too perfect.
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