The Myth Of Priority And The Abundance Of Greed

They corral us into a cluster
again - the echoes of the hypocrisy

"your health and safety is our top priority"

I would classify it as a gathering of more than ten,
but this is business and the rules are looser
when it involves greed and the economy

The puppeteer of the organization,
pulls down his mask

He is a peppy man, mid-seventies
with an explosive temper,
flanked by his eight trusted managers
who are at the worship of his every word

He has closed his doors, when mandated
but this place is a free for all
once the politicians decide to see what will happen
- all capacity restrictions out the window,
every time

He is of the fortunate in business these days,
with a solid online structure to soften the losses
and the power of corporate branding

Even the Premier of the province jumped in
to declare this retailer an "essential" service

Part of today's speech
is that we are expected to work harder,
despite a pandemic bonus of 2 bucks
that lasted the first wave
and completely disappeared
for the second and third

But shareholders got a dividend boost last year
and the CEO took home more in bonus than salary

The majority of us remain unvaccinated
-not for a lack of trying
but the distribution has been complicated
to assist the hot zones with daily spiking numbers

The paperwork went around today
that if we do get sick
it will be on our dime,
this coming from an organization
that continually posts profits
and chooses to offer zero sick days
to hourly employees

But remember, as they told us
from day one,

"Your health and safety is our top priority."