I can rely on you, he said.
I smiled.
What other answer is there to that statement?
No, you can’t.
You shouldn’t.
Or Always.
Because I am the guy you want on your six.
Most of the time.
Maybe not in traffic.
Then I’m the idiot in your rear view mirror making you grateful you can’t read lips.
Backwards.
But other than that, you want me to have your back.
Because I’m a no questions kind of loyalist.
Someone giving you static?
I’m in it and on it and acting first.
There’s time after for asking questions.
Except…
We weren’t in on it.
We were at work and he’s twenty two or twenty five and talking about the kids his age he has to work with.
They are not reliable.
I want to tell him it’s the weed.
If you only knew how many people in the concrete box with the smile on the outside do their daily duties toked up to the heavens…
It would blow your mind.
If I were a true entrepreneur, I would get into the pot business.
Not the bribe the politicians with big donations so I can get a “legal” license business.
No, the on the side kind of black market biz Jay Z and Tim Allen and Purdue family used to get started.
I could set up a “food” trailer in the parking lot and sell dime bags for $20 and bags of Doritos for $1.
For later.
I want to tell him it’s the age.
I’ve been age shamed, and aged against for the past few years, so I may be particularly sensitive to this subject, but it could also be that I am a bit ageist too.
They’re in their 20’s with a lot of life stretched out in front of them.
I’m on the uphill side of fifty, and though I too have another 49 years left, it’s still tough not to see these kids as, well, kids.
I could tell him I just want to do the work while I have to, and keep my head down and not be bothered.
Typical Gen-X behavior.
Tell me what you want done and then get the F out of the way.
Or I could tell him the truth.
It’s the work.
It’s mind numbing and monotonous and could be done by trained monkeys.
The ground hog day feel of it should drive someone to pass the dutchie pon the left hand side, or take CBD gummies like candy just to get through.
I know when the robots will replace us and what they look like.
I saw the report and their secret code names digging into project scopes I probably wasn’t supposed to see.
2027 the roll out is complete and then I wonder how they will pay for their pot?
Never mind the bills, or groceries, or rent or car notes and insurance.
Who is going to support the legally supported and fastest growing industry in states with the poorest populations?
What then?
Amazon has a plan.
It is a filter of sort, and you’ve seen it at work before.
It’s an up or out model, meaning that everyone who is doing the drudgery now has an option.
Go to school, get trained and get gone.
A feeder system.
And they are pushing for two things.
Robotics programming and CDL’s.
Now why CDL’s?
Won’t commercial driver’s licenses become obsolete when driverless trucks take over the roads?
Turns out, that’s farther down the line than robot workers.
But we’ll need folks to program them too, once they are here.
It’s a good plan for a big company, and I know Wal Mart is following a similar model.
Push training, and education in the form of jobs that will exist four years from now.
Plus the school and training are free, all part of the perks of being employed.
Never mind that it’s tough to concentrate when you’re wiped out after a long day, or baked to the gills.
Either way, it’s a filter.
Let’s find out who’s willing to put in the effort and do the work to get ready for a future that isn’t just coming, it’s here.
That’s something we can rely on.
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So how much would you charge for ounce?