Survival Tips for the Pattern Recognition Individual #1
Art by: S.S.
A field report from inside the machine.
You see the patterns. It’s a blessing and a curse. You see how the system is supposed to work, and you see how it actually works. You watch the pieces move on the board, and you can’t unsee the contradictions. This is a field report from inside the machine. These are the rules you learn when you can’t stop paying attention.
My new job is teaching me some old lessons. Lessons about being a few minutes late, but how staying 15 minutes past clock-out when they ask is somehow overlooked. It’s a lesson in faking a smile, knowing that everyone is watching your moves but never their own.
They tell me I have to be in one spot outside to watch the kids, then they tell me I have to be inside helping to clean. They tell me to be in a specific corner of the campus, but also to be across campus at the front gate three times during lunch. Then they expect me to be inside with the kids during that same lunch. It’s a contradiction trap.
And the whole time, the heat is a constant threat. I’ve told them multiple times, in meetings and in passing, that I have a history with heat stroke. We’re still having 109-degree days here. But what do I know? I’m the one who also has to “dress up” for the job of melting on the black tar. After covering for someone else, in the full heat, keeping my mouth shut, the focus returns to my flaws. It shows you a few things. It teaches you the real rules of the game.
The Unwritten Rules
- All jobs are the same.
This sick joke is everywhere, on every layer of life. The names and places change, but the patterns don’t. You think you’d learn.
2. Everyone watches you, but no one watches themselves.
They will judge your every move while remaining blind to their own actions. Every job has a “Rules for thee, not for me” faction.
3. The smiles are fake.
Remember that the people you work with are observers. They are watching. Your only defense is to keep your own mask on.
4. Don’t expect to be understood.
You can state something clearly, multiple times, but you can’t make them listen. Don’t waste your breath.
5. Your good deeds are invisible, but your mistakes are recorded in permanent ink.
They will magnify your three flaws and ignore the ninety-seven things you do right. It’s the ‘Why a B, not an A?’ from childhood, just with a paycheck.
6. Loyalty is not a currency they accept.
Staying 20 minutes late to cover for someone is ignored. Arriving two minutes late is a crime. Clock out the second you can.
7. You will be punished for the system’s contradictions.
You will get in trouble from the right hand for failing to do what the left hand demanded at the same time. The brain of the operation doesn’t talk to its own limbs.