The most poignant question asked in the interview
was what’s the hardest problem you’ve faced?
Should have been a thinker,
but my answer was immediate and honest:
people.

See, I’ve been the restaurant manager
buried in food tickets
with customers still pouring into the building
like shovelfuls of dirt,
the only solution being
to hunker down over immolating grill
and outdig.

In the warehouse, when trailers became
a rare and coveted commodity
making gridlocks of outbound loads,
I manipulated space like a flash game
to find every nook and cranny for a pallet, 
constantly shifting pieces
until we could get the big one out.

I hunted down and found
your missing items in the grocery store
like tracking rare animals in the wild.
I finagled the splintering pallet
down from the highest racks
without the easy way out
offered by gravity.

Because the thing about inanimate objects
is they can only have so much power.
They’re predictable with rigid rules.
That which is created by humankind
can be conquered by humankind.

But people?
They’re all over the place.
They see the hard worker and know
their slack will be picked up.
They take advantage of systems,
paying no mind to who’s coming next,
who’s cleaning
the mess
they leave 
behind.

Worse if they’re in leadership,
playing favorites
          (or singling somebody out)
or refusing to hold everyone accountable
         (including themselves)
and if you get run over by one of these people,
you’ll bleed our in their rearview,
laying there dying
on the side of the road
while other people (the cowards)
pretend not to notice.

It’s the only problem I can’t solve;
when someone chooses to be a problem.
Through any other challenge at me,
even Everest, I’ll come out on top.
But the wrong person, well
they can only hollow out my humanity.