“Call the boss! We got a problem over here,” one supervisor yelled to one of the others. It took virtually no time for the devil himself to show up on the scene of the rebellion. Wow! He was furious!

  “What’s the meaning of this!?” he bellowed. “Everyone get back to work this instant! We have product that needs to be delivered!” I kinda laughed under my breath and thought “we”? Ok, now where did that dude go who spoke up a while ago? I see. Not so brave now that the boss is here. Oh well, I thought. This is what I wanted after all so I might as well go through with it.

  And after a hard swallow I said “Look, we’re doing all the work that needs to get done every cycle, so just remove the marbles from the water rooms, and we’ll get back to work.” Instantaneously, a loud roar filled the air. At first I thought the boss had an even louder voice than I remembered. But as it turned out it was all of my fellow workers yelling and cheering. “Yeah! That’s right!” We were of one voice.

  Now the devil was clearly in a predicament. He needed to assure that the work got done and simultaneously keep the appearance of being in control. The numbers were just not on his side. A sea of people were yelling and chanting. No work was getting done and there was nothing that he could threaten us with that was any worse than what we were already experiencing. Finally the devil was able to break through the noise and say, “Ok, I’ll tell ya what. Just get back on the job now and by the time we get this cycles’ quota on track, your water break will be back to normal.” Everyone thought that this was a clear win for them. They were shaking their heads, clapping and feeling very victorious. They were ready to just jump on that hamster wheel they had been running on for all this time. Then, I interrupted the mini celebration with a loud “Do not make that deal!”

  I have seen plenty of corporate dealings in the past and if there is one thing that I have learned, it was that the management will do or say just about anything to get through a crisis. Empty promises, misdirection, false hope and threats of losing your job are all common tactics used to avert what is perceived to be a threat to what matters most to the company. The bottom line. Now it became crystal clear to me that if the devil was ready to negotiate with us, getting the product delivered to wherever it was going was very important to him. He was getting something very valuable out of this work and he absolutely could not get it done without us.

  Despite my plea, it was too late. All of the workers had a taste of victory and they liked the flavor. They had stood up to the boss, made their demands known and got him to see things their way. Or so they thought. Before I could get another word out most everyone had gone back to whatever tasks they had been assigned and were actually doing more work than they usually did during any given cycle.

  I think that perception is a rather tricky thing. These workers thought that they were getting rewarded for their hard work. In reality, a promise was made to them that they would be getting exactly the same thing they had be getting all along.

  The devil had a little smirk on his face as he walked away. First, he had made an empty threat in order to control the workers. Then he made an empty promise which convinced everyone that their demands would be met. The volatile situation at hand was defused and the boss gave absolutely nothing tangible to the workers. It was all just feel good words and the workers ate it up like is was homemade apple pie. Wow, I do miss pie.

  The Stand

  This cycle of work was much longer than the usual one. We obviously had to make the quota and make up for the lost time and production during the protest. As everyone walked toward the water rooms, a sense of accomplishment was in the air. We had stood up for our rights and were about to reap the benefits of our hard work and solidarity.

  Just imagine the disappointment on our faces as we fell to the marble covered floors of the water rooms. Nothing had changed. The devil told us exactly what we wanted to hear and got us to do even more work than usual. Then he completely ignored our demands and went on about his comfortable life as if nothing at all had happened.

  Now, more than ever, we needed to unite and use our collective power to hurt the devil. No more threat of a strike! No more giving into empty words! We had to get action and results before we would lift a finger to help the devil meet that quota. Getting water was the main hurtle in a long term strike.

  Organization of a plan was swift and relatively simple. We found as many people as possible who were “good at marbles” to agree to get the water and share half of it. Those of us who continually fell on our asses would get at the end of the lines. Maybe we would get a drink or maybe not but those at the front of the line would share if need be. I figured we only needed to hold out for about two cycles before the boss would really get nervous about production. Whomever was receiving our product seemed to have little tolerance for late or shorted orders of goods.

  Word of the planned strike spread quickly again. First we would work the next cycle as if nothing were wrong. Next, we send our sure footed marble walkers to the front of the lines to collect as many full jugs of water as possible. Then after our downtime…nothing. Everything was in place and our uniform resolve to succeed was strong. This time we would not give in.

  The next cycle came and went without incident. Some of us ended up with bruised knees after traversing the slippery floor of the water rooms, but we all had a bit of a smile knowing it may be the last of that particular torture.

  The moment of truth had arrived. We were all at our work stations standing motionless. Again the supervisors did not know what to do about our insubordinate act. They called the boss to the scene again. His harsh words were expected and were not much different from the time before. “Get back to work or there will be…well consequences to pay.”

  This time I didn’t hesitate to speak up and made a counter offer to the devil. “How about you remove the marbles now, let us have our downtime and then we will start a fresh cycle after that?” My colleagues were astonished. Can he do that? They thought. There was utter silence for a brief moment, then the devil said something none of us had expected.

  “How about you get back to work now or spend your next cycle in the room of irrevocable pain?” I could tell by the looks on the faces of my coworkers that they had never heard of such a room.

  I replied to the devil, “We are already in pain so more of the same won’t fix anything.”

  I could see now why everyone thought the devil had red skin. He was pissed but also could not come up with anything else to threaten us with. He paced back and forth a couple of times then stopped to say, “I expect all of this work to be done by the end of the cycle or there will be no water for any of you!” He then stormed off without a glance back.

  Most everyone had the same question of each other. “What is this room of irrevocable pain?” “Have you ever heard of anybody getting out of it?” Nobody wanted to find out about it firsthand that was for certain. “Look!” I shouted. “This may be just another empty threat and besides, we’re already in hell. Surely it can’t get any worse.” We all pretty much agreed on that but still had fears. We also had a back-up supply of water and sure enough, we needed it.

  We made it through the first cycle. There was no water break, but we did have our downtime. We used it to share water and strategize for what would surely be a challenging cycle coming up. The plan remained the same. No work until the marbles were taken away.

  The beginning of the cycle brought plenty of tension in the air. The boss arrived to see our recalcitrant behavior and flew off on a rant. “You people think you can demand anything from me?” He asked. “You all are just lucky that I have been so easy on you so far. As for this work, it will get done with or without you. You are not indispensable. For each one of you, I have ten more waiting in line to take your place.”

  I gave that last comment some thought. You see, we have all been doing this work for what seemed like decades, if we actually had years to count. We were all very good at working the pumps, syphons and other equipment needed for gathering the two products. I would wager to say that his “ten more people” would not be able to get very much work done for quite a while. Even with the devil’s supervisors pitching in to help. I doubt that they could produce twenty per cent of our current production level.

  I think we were in pretty good shape as far as what we had to offer compared to what the devil had to lose. That damned room of irrevocable pain had me a little worried. But then I wondered just how big could this room possibly be? Surely it can’t hold all of us, right?

  We had come this far without backing down so it was refreshing to see that none of us were showing any signs of weakness. We were truly united. Our strike was beginning to pay dividends. All of the newcomers were sent in to do the work we had been doing for years. It was turning into a disaster for production numbers. The newbies also got a chance to see how they were being thrown into the fire, as it were, without proper training and being expected to do the same work as us experienced workers. The minion supervisors were busy trying to figure out how to use the equipment and simultaneously teach the new people. They were so busy, in fact, that they did not even notice some of us strikers sneaking off to the water rooms for a quick drink.

  Fired!

  The devil reappeared again on the scene at the beginning of strike cycle number two. He looked around, saw the calamity and suddenly realized that he was losing the battle. He had to do something to regain the upper hand and control over his labor force. “That’s enough!” he shouted with a commanding voice. Everyone stopped whatever they were doing, fell silent and looked at him to see just what he would do next. Exactly what he did next was surprising and almost magic-like. He reached into thin air beside him grabbing what appeared to be an imaginary door knob and pulled it open. Not an imaginary door, but a real door appeared and opened. At the instant the door opened, he grabbed the closest striking worker and with a quick flick, flung him through the open door. It slammed on its own quickly. The door then vanished.

  Ok, we thought. What exactly just happened here? Only a couple of breaths were taken when out of nowhere the door reappeared. The hapless worker stumbled out and was screaming in pain and agony. He was inconsolable and was rambling on about being in a horror filled room for years. His skin was red and possibly blistered as if burned. He fell to his knees and was unable to get back to his feet. The completely broken man crawled away still crying out about his unrelenting pain. This dude just got fired!

  Apparently, the room of irrevocable pain was a real thing. None of us had ever seen it before because the devil had a way to keep it hidden and pull it out whenever needed. You could call it a portable portal. The pain and agony that was felt by the fired man seemed to have lasted an eternity. He had thought he was in that room for a long time, but in reality, it was a mere few seconds. This new threat from the devil was real and powerful.

  “Who wants to be next?” the devil asked. Now he had something tangible to leverage against us and that was fear. None of us wanted to be any worse off than we were before. He really did not wait for an answer to his question but instead the door was flung open and another worker was deposited into the room. The results were the same as with the first man fired.

  Suddenly people scrambled back to their usual positions of work. It appeared as if the devil had won the battle decisively, so he vanished into the dark gray landscape leaving behind only echoing laughter. A few of the remaining workers gathered up the two wounded men and began caring for them as best they could. How could we ever regain the solidarity we once had after suffering such a humiliating defeat?

  All of the new recruits and even some of the minions had a look of disgust on their faces after seeing how the devil had treated these workers. We all knew that he was an ass, but we didn’t know just how low he would be willing to go.

  Healing

  Just moments after the devil had fired two workers and left the scene, something remarkable happened. All of the workers who had gone back to their posts suddenly stopped working and gathered around the two broken men. They all tried to help and comfort the wounded. They had acted like they were going back to work, but once the devil turned his back they were doing nothing except waiting for him to leave. Now it was really looking like we were united.

  Only minions and about half of the new recruits were now trying to harvest and transport the goods. It was a joke. Virtually nothing was getting done because not enough of them knew how to do it and the rest of them just did not care. This was going to be a problem for us all once the devil found out what was happening.

  It didn’t take long for the devil to show up. As usual, he was pissed and we were going to hear about it. Just as he was about to launch into a tirade, I spoke up first. “Just what do you expect from us?” I asked. ”We have no stock in this operation and we don’t even have a stake in its success. Why should we work so hard just to make you more successful?” A loud cheer of approval rose up from the united workers. The devil then cut in with a statement.

  “Have you not seen my power and what I can do to you?”

  “Of course we have!” I yelled back. “But just look around and understand this. You can’t get this work done without us and you can’t fire all of us. You tried to make an example of two good workers, but what you really managed to do was poison the minds of new workers and strengthen the will of all the rest of us”

  So it looked like the devil was starting to worry a little because he knew I was right. He began to think of just how little he could offer in order to appease us and get us back to work. “So, what’s it going to take to get you slackers back on the job?” he asked in a not so pleasant manner.

  I spoke up with a clear and confident voice. “Clear access to the water…NOW!”

  After a short pause and a grimace on his face, the devil said, “Fine! The marbles are gone, so get back to work!”

  “Hey boss” I said. “Not that we don’t trust you or anything, but I think we will take that water break now.”

  “Whatever,” he mumbled.

  “Oh, and by the way Luci…”

  He turned with a jerk and said, “What the hell do you want now? And by the way, you can call me boss!”

  “Ok, boss. Those two workers over there that you fired. Fix them!”

  He got right up in my face and said, “It’s called the room of irrevocable pain for a reason! Just what part of irrevocable don’t you understand?”

  With the same arrogance I answered, “Just what part of no work don’t you understand?”

  With a wave of his hand, the two workers were back on their feet and healed of all their wounds. Cheers went up and the two men were lifted up on shoulders and carried toward the water rooms. As the devil walked away, he paused, looked back toward me and said, “I can just as well put you in that room next time, you know.”

  We made our way to the water. The degree of happiness and jubilation that we felt could not be described by a thousand poets. A union had been formed and its strength withstood the harshest of tests. Most people thought that we didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell to accomplish this or it would be a cold day in hell when a union was formed in hell. Hell, most of us did not think it would be possible either. I guess the cooler temperatures in hell was just enough to give that snowball a chance.

  Our water was good. Our downtime was restful. We needed the rest after the kind of cycle at work we had just come off. But now we began to think about the next work cycle and the one after that. How were things going to be any different than they were before the whole marble fiasco? That’s just it. Nothing would be any different and we really did not gain anything that we didn’t already have. We wanted more. We needed more.

  A new line of conversation began around the workplace. It was about how strong we had become when a common goal needed to be reached. It was about the courage that we all found and used in order to stand up to the devil and not back down until our goal was reached. Hell was starting to become a place with just a little bit more happiness in it.

  The Meeting

  With our newfound confidence, some of us began to wonder just how much more we could reasonably expect to get from the devil. Perhaps more importantly, the question should be exactly what more did we want. I think the answer was simple. We wanted to go home.

  Have you ever noticed what people frequently say when they are at work? They say things like; “I just wish I was at home.” “I can’t wait to get home.” Or “I just wanna be at home.” You rarely hear people say things like “I wish I was at the dentists’ office.” Or “Wow, I’d rather be at the laundromat.” You also hear people say “I wish I could retire right about now.” That was it. We needed an ending point to our punishment time in hell. When we first got here we were told that our time would equal our crimes, or sins as it were. However, when asked, nobody can say that they have noticed people leaving.

  During the next several work cycles I began to ask others if a definite ending point would be the most important thing they would want from the devil. A few people said they would want to sleep or eat as a nice perk. Seriously?! We might have an actual chance to get out of this hell-hole but you would rather have a cheeseburger and a nap? Oh well. To each his own, I guess. At least now the conversation about what to do next had begun.

 

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