Liberty Leading the People – Eugène Delacroix
If coffee is the new lunch then what happened to the old lunch?
***
An expression of realization falls over my face like the shadow cast by a cloud sailing in front of the sun.
I WANT MY LUNCH BACK!
I run to the office lunchroom, fork in hand.
Security is called.
Three gruffs wrestle me in an attempt to remove me from the office. I resist.
A crowd of browbeaten office drones congregate to watch the spectacle.
***
Within the din of the crowd, a small but sharp voice is heard:
Lunch. Lunch. Lunch.
The voice grows louder, multiplies and snowballs into a crescendo:
Lunch! Lunch! Lunch!
As I continue to struggle with the gruffs, the crowd’s chant rises into thunder:
LUNCH! LUNCH! LUNCH!
Finally, the righteous fury of the people is released:
LUNCH! LUNCH! LUNCH!
(OFFICE) WORKERS OF THE WORLD UNITE!
VIVA LA REVOLUTION!
NO CAFFEINATION WITHOUT DIGESTITATION!
VIVA LA REVOLUTION!
LUNCH OR DEATH!
VIVA LA REVOLUTION!
The Boss enters the floor.
A few people notice. Then more people notice.
A domino effect of silence ripples through the crowd.
The crowd melts away, its white hot fury evaporating into the tepid clattering of keyboards; steam into air.
Not with a bang but a whimper…
