04:05 APAC
That night, Ben was cooking pasta. “I’ve been thinking,” Lakshmi said. “Oh no, that sounds expensive.” Lakshmi chuckled. “I don’t want to keep saying next year.” Lakshmi was serious very quickly. Nothing had changed with their situation. Their rent was still ridiculous, Lakshmi’s salary was the same, AI wasn’t going anywhere, and neither was the general feeling that everyone was running faster just to stay where they were. Maybe that was the part Charlie Brown understood. Lucy moved the football every single time, and Charlie Brown kept running towards it. For years, Lakshmi had thought that he was a fool, but she wasn’t sure anymore. Maybe Charlie Brown just refused to let someone else decide when he should stop hoping. Ben looked at Lakshmi. “So,” he asked. “What are you saying?” “I don’t know, Ben, I’m just saying.” And for once, Lakshmi was okay with that. The world could keep moving the football; she was just getting tired of asking its permission to kick it.
Nothing had changed with their situation. Their rent was still ridiculous, Lakshmi’s salary was the same, AI wasn’t going anywhere, and neither was the general feeling that everyone was running faster just to stay where they were.
and credit cards. Managers were worried. Graduates were worried. People earning more than Daniel were worried. For years, everyone had apparently been privately cutting something, postponing something or wondering whether they’d made some terrible financial mistake. Helen read the comments too. One younger employee wrote: I don’t know what my job will look like in five years. Helen smiled because neither did she, and perhaps that was one thing the generations had in common.
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GLOBAL PAYROLL MAGAZINE ISSUE 28
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