Phil’s gift.

It was late, but Alex did not have to work tomorrow. It was Monday, but it was his day off. He worked the Tuesday-Saturday shift, so his weekend is one day off from whaty some might consider a typical weekend. It suited him fine, he had the Monday to go to the dentist or whatever else is closed during the weekend, not that he has been to the dentist in a few years. Hopefully his teeth were okay. Tonight he was wondering what he wanted to do with his time, that was the problem with weekends. He didn't have to work, but he needed to do something. It felt wrong to just seat around all day without doing anything productive with his time. Sometimes he felt like he wanted to go to work on his day off. It felt empowering to go to work if he wanted to, but still actually have the choice to go or not to go.

Earlier in the day, he did actually get a text from his boss, Lisa, asking if he wanted to come work a few extra hours for overtime that day. Phil had called out. Again. Alex decided against going into work. It is not like Alex could be fired for not going into work on his day off. Hamburgers were not that important. However, now he needed to find something to do with his time. Something productive, but not work. He did not like working so that others could profit off his labor. He wanted to work for himself, but he found no help from his art degree. He posted tons of art online, but nobody was really interested. He got loans to pay for a degree that was not helping to pay for itself. He was in a hole with no way out, and nothing to do for fun, except for working on weekends, if he wanted to. However, no matter how much he worked, he barely got by with paying for his needs. Rent was high, and getting higher, his car was costing him more than it was worth, and his loan payments were very high.

The only thing that allowed Phil, his coworker, to get by in life, who was in a similar situation with a degree in history, was drinking. However, Phil had a drinking problem, that was why he did not show up to work. Alex knew this because Phil was next to him on the couch, passed out. It honestly surprised Alex that Phil still had a job, but Lisa never fired him.

"We need all the staff we can get," she often said. "Besides, he is the only worker who knows how to fix the milkshake machine when it breaks."It broke often, Phil probably had a hand in that.

"While, Phil," Alex told sleeping Phil as he reached for the bottle of expensive beer that Phil had offered him earlier in the evening, before Phil passed out after drinking four other similar bottles. "I got nothing to do, and nothing I can do to get out of this financial mess I'm in. Lets drink."