Teams

 

the remote worker
sports the complexion of a pedigree alien grey
pyjama bottoms with shirt and tie
for the protection and dignity of others dressed a similar way
keeping up appearances
for another teams meeting
detritus strewn around his hang-out lounge
hidden below the camera eye
the sun like a disembodied orb
pulverises half his face with wishy-washy vitamin d..

the remote worker
the work abode disrobes the home abode discarded
his manager can monitor his unreal actions in real time
what applications are used and how and when
stress levels
productivity league tables
i am not spying on you
i am only here to advise and help
remember too my challenges are also being..appreciated..

freedom of the remote worker
let us say it is complicated
for a released prisoner on licence has more privacy
he only has an ankle bracelet
first world problems i should be grateful
i should be grateful
i am doing nothing wrong i should be grateful..
the remote worker apprehends that flexibility has its undertow
what the remote worker of today might turn into tomorrow..

the remote worker
two-thousand miles a millimetre
as close as a whisper hourly in the ear
yet the remote worker is envied
by those who still always have to be there
from his window he watches them lurch in slow-mo
ocular anti-bacterial faintly glowing
while in his shirt and tie and his pyjama bottoms
remote working rocking and rolling
invisibly stripped of the accoutrements of relative meaning..

cardboard microwaved twenty coffees and weird cravings
he wanders the shopping aisles
sacrosanct the free hour in his planner every day
he wanders in a park
he wanders around his lounge
then back to work
then back to the fridge
he looks inside the fridge
not for any particular reason
he just needs to look inside the fridge
he realises he has put on some weight
his smart fridge replies that so has he..

once a week he has to go in
for a real meeting
he sits next to someone
someone sits two metres apart from him
then the meeting is over
he prints a few things off the printer
he looks around this floor to catch up with some others
they are not there
and he hates whatsapp
so he goes down the lift
quiet people on escalators
quiet people on trains
the freedom of the remote worker
blade runner on teams..

i should be grateful
many say they want this..