Fly on the Wall

A menial visits the corporations

Two days a week I work for the tiniest fraction over minimum wage at a manual job that requires me to visit a variety of organisations, big and small. I have fleeting access to CEO suites and cleaners’ cupboards, hotel kitchens and call centres, board rooms and council offices. I mostly love my job. I enjoy friendly exchanges with people in all these locations while feeling eternally grateful that I don’t have to work in any of them myself. It is my teetering foothold in the “real” (fake) world and a vantage point that gives me plenty to think and write about.

Fly on the Wall

In the background, busy at practical tasks,
the contractor moves discreetly around,
suppresses a customary whistle
not to disrupt the induction ritual.

He does not actively listen but learns
the company mission is “Change the World!”
an ambition to be pursued with passion
via the medium of recycling bins
and a uniform commitment
to Diversity.

A young recruit with non-native accent
gives his unsolicited endorsement
in a burst of solo spontaneity.
The trainer smiles, checks bullet points –
it is she who is here to deliver the message –
clears her throat, steers back to the script.

A fresh hiatus as latecomers join.
Yes, they have all enrolled online.
There are further forms for them to fill.
A sudden malfunction with the projector
causes a new interruption,
the trainer insufficiently trained
to meet the technical challenge.
A trainee steps forward to answer the call
and all is well again.

Images of a gleaming head office
are beamed onto the collapsible screen,
the mission statement highlighted in bold.
There’s a dream to be sold!
A team to build!
And a customer – that figurehead king –
somewhere on the surface of it.

Nobody mentions chicken
or chips
or shareholder profit.