UBI

I woke up thinking about what it used to be like to have a job.

I’d wake up early, too early, to get my household in order. First it was just feeding the cat and feeding myself. Soon it was feeding a family. Time to workout became harder and harder to find. Time to create nearly impossible.

And then there was the commute. Remember how we used to stuff ourselves into cars we had to steer, or wait for a bus that never came, or pack ourselves into the subway? We thought that was the only way. Meanwhile the planet was dying and our time was being spent head down checking our emails, constantly, instead of talking to each other. We didn’t have time to talk to each other.

And then there was the office. Where no one looked like me and leadership was hidden in offices around the perimeter while everyone else was haphazardly arranged in little cubes. Some companies got it, and took time to design for their employees, for their work. But most just expected us to figure it out. Find a way to make phone calls and collaborate without space or tools.

And we ate food that was terrible. I don’t know if we can all it food. Eating out was not a luxury, but an essential to getting back in the office and getting back to work. I tried to pack my lunch all those years; it saved my sanity and my health.

After work we’d do the same commute home, try to figure out our meals and take care of our kids and rush around to this and that. Some of us were slaves to the television, or the Internet. We couldn’t disconnect, back then. We didn’t know how.

And I can’t say we’ve got it right now, but I do know we at least are better off than we were. And we aren’t killing our planet, or eating fake food, or spending our time looking at devices. People are happier — they see their families and spend time doing what they love. There’s no tension between the haves in the have nots when everyone has at least enough. And there aren’t as many people that have the whole world in their hands.

And the people-we’ve stopped segregating ourselves. People aren’t left behind, so we all get to interact. It doesn’t feel so lonely. I see people like me everyday, and get to collaborate with all walks of life. In the work that I do best. We’ve speed up the possibilities of what humans can do exponentially because we’re actually doing it, not forcing each other into pre-ordained roles that couldn’t evolve fast enough.

We haven’t left the Internet behind, but we know how to use it now. Facebook died a long time ago and we’re smarter about our interactions. We know not to tear each other down-physically or digitally. We can pay for in-depth content so we don’t need all the trash and click-bait. Clicking means nothing now. People have time to think.

It’s funny though, waking up remembering this. How it used to be. How we thought it had to be. And that was just the beginning, like infants still learning to crawl.