I’ve been reading an anthology of short stories & poems from Seattle’s Recovery Cafe writing program. One of the authors is a Vietnamese refugee who came to Seattle when he was 4 years old. His poignant prose and themes struck me, particular in this passage:
Bang Nguyen
“Not My Brother”, from Another American Dream
We started out the same. Born in the same coastal city in Vietnam,
the sons of sisters from our mothers’ side. Refugees on the same boat
in the same graduating class, got jobs,
and began climbing the corporate ladder.We were more like brothers than cousins.
But somehow, I couldn’t keep climbing.
It seemed the higher I climbed the more the burden
of guilt weighted on me for my executive decisions.
Did I say execute?
I felt like a financial hit man. A corporate bankster.
Everything started to look slick on me.
Slick hair. Slick suits. Slick style.
I was fast becoming a corporate burnout,
my business life an infamous two pots of coffee morning,
two martini lunch, and way more than two hours of happy hour
each and every day.I got caught in a rung, and fell off the corporate ladder.
Unlike me, Cousin showed no sign of cracking…
This passage transports me back to when I used to do consulting, donning pressed shirts and slacks, corporate badge on retractable clip on my right belt-loop, neat rows of office desks and computers, directors taking out their anger on their managers, managers onto their senior associates, and eventually associates onto the innocent taxi drivers, hotel staff, cafe barista, or whomever else they could shed off some stress. It was a hard world of great pay but great stress that often didn’t make sense. I didn’t climb high onto this ladder, but I didn’t like the cynical person I was becoming. I eventually decided to climb off the rungs and restore myself in a different lifestyle in Peru.
The book is called “Words from the Cafe: An Anthology”. Bang Nguyen and the other authors come from myriad walks of life, but their stories all touch the heart deeply from their life events and wisdom.
Nest Cafe ~ Cafe Nido 