Pirate Ships afloat on a Corporate Ocean
Posted: Sunday, June 26, 2011
by Amanda Johnson
For the majority of my life I have worked on Pirate Ships on the vast ocean of Corporate America. I certainly don’t count those first jobs I ever held. Working the tobacco fields as a child was different. That was both a life and community experience. Nor do I include the various jobs as waitress, bar maid or even administrative work. Those were more like stepping stones along the shore line or at best small fishing boats that stayed close to shore.
The crew, from galley to bilge to deck hands and all the way to first mate worked long hard hours on a ship that had to be manned 24/7. Someone was always working and even if they were not, too much of their off time was spent concerned, worried or contemplating their jobs or what should be done next. Shore leave was short and never came without the price of blood, sweat and even tears. The hard work and maneuvering left you with callouses and blisters on the soul and hardened little corners of your heart. So that after months and months of sailing the sea with only glimpses of land or a lonely island here and there, you longed for that five to seven days of shore leave. Once on leave, you tried to pack every small minute of something, be it rest and sleeping or reacquainting yourself with the landlubbers you left behind when you first set sail on the corporate sea. Five to seven tiny days and nights were to make up for twelve months of hard core labor for which you were not truly appreciated for. However, you relish these small days and manage to feel refreshed and ready to board again at the end of your leave. You are after all, brainwashed by the Captain and mesmerized by the ocean at this point. You view the ships as your opportunity to either Captain your own someday or perhaps to simply earn the right to live your golden olden years in prosperity and contentment. Your view is skewed.
Back on the ship and adrift on the ocean you once again scurry about with the rest of the crew to keep the huge and hulking cruiser afloat and running smoothly. There is promise of oranges to keep the scurvy away and maybe, if you work hard enough and do as you’re instructed, there will be booty for all to share and even extra loot for those who stand out and perform well or to the Captain’s liking. This promise is what causes scuttlebutt among the crew and often unrest, even mutiny. You find yourself watching your own back day and night while ferreting out who if anyone can be trusted or which one might lay in wait in the shadows, dagger in hand and aimed at your backside.
If you learn quickly and batten all the hatches, the Captain may take notice and you make your way to First Mate. You have no idea when first taking the helm that you have just made it to the most precarious position on board. You think only that your skills and talents have been recognized and rewarded and throw yourself into becoming the best First Mate the Captain has ever had. You may make mistakes and stumble here and there, but overall you sail the high seas with conviction and determination.
All the while, the crew you struggle to take care of (for you were not so long ago one of them) smile in your presence and seem to be happy. The booty comes in and spreads around, from the top down and it is not so much as you thought it should be according to your calculations, but you say nothing for to do so will mean sure punishment. You drink the ale, pass the bottle and celebrate with the others. Almost without notice, a new member has joined the crew while at some port or other. Perhaps you don’t notice so much, but the Captain does. They are after all another first mate from another successful vessel.
Then one day, the crew is all gathered the Captain appears, draws his sword and commands you to walk the plank, his new and duly decorated First Mate at his side. A precious few of the crew look away to avoid the spectacle while others cheer on your demise, after all your absence leaves more future opportunity for them. As I misunderstood when I took First Mate, they fail to see that this is not a place of honor or to attain to but one that is perhaps the most disposable. If they realized that, they would never attempt to aspire to it.
Head held high and erect, shoulders back, you unceremoniously drop step into the deep waters and are immersed. As you were not a hated First Mate, your arms and legs are not bound providing you with a paltry opportunity at survival. Therefore, you swim. As you do, you notice for the first time the beauty that surrounds you. The great colors of the various shapes and sizes of the fish, the enormous grace of the giant whale that glides by, even the wonder of the large shark that meanders through this world you are visiting. Soon, you see bright colored corral and underwater landscapes that are like nothing you’ve ever imagined. Slowly you realize that this is not at all your demise. You have in fact been granted your freedom and are experiencing a beauty and peace of spirit that you regret you have not seen before now. All these years you saw only what lived on top of the water and the horizon without ever once looking below the surface. If there is regret, it is only that it took this long.
You may be unsure of whether you will drown or if you will make it to land but hope if you do it is a deserted or nearly deserted island so you may live with the ability to see from here to forever through your new eyes. This is the true adventure, to see with open eyes the beauty, wonder and natural state around you and further to appreciate and embrace it.
Afloat on the sea and breathing in the full swell of life, you can see the Pirate Ship far in the distance, sailing into the sun and can faintly hear the singing chants of the crew “Yo,ho,ho and a bottle of rum”. You smile, and then laugh fully and openly for they are not aware as I was not, that they are not living life at all. They are merely sailing on top of it with no true direction or destination. While my own may be unchartered at this point, this much is for sure: it will never again take its course aboard another Pirate Ship. I’ll take my chances around the jetty or close to shore where life will overtake the meaning of sailing on a corporate ocean.
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