They gave us 45 days, to do what
they didn’t say. Ricky says he’s not doing
shit until he gets a raise, and when he
asked me to do the same, I basically
agreed, so we’re on the clock, but striking.
Shawn is vaping and lighting things
on fire. Davin is stealing tools.
I have a 15mm wrench in my bag and now
I’m eyeing the poster of an octopus
on a tandem with a baby in its basket.
I might as well snatch it while the boss
is absent. I wonder what happens
to the brains of people paid to do nothing.
It’s like a law of nature that anyone
working for a corporation does as little as
they can get away with. Keynes predicted
that once we teach robots to do our
busy work, the real dilemma will be feeling
busy without being busy, or letting go
of feeling busy while somehow still
feeling progress, or letting go of progress,
even linear feelings altogether, in a circular
world where all logic and growth end
right where they started, a new world
that doesn’t distinguish destruction
from creation from constipation. I text this
thought to my father while Chris hammers
a rock to get the garnet out. From the point
of view of the camera on the ceiling,
he’s the only one working.

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Greg Gregory is on tandem bike passing through Marfa, Texas.