Ode To The Bad Salaryman

I know some good salarymen

But you aren’t one of them

Like a crow you hop along to the feast

Happy to pick the scraps of dying business

Or sell something no one needs

Instead of striking out on your own

Or hunting new opportunities like a hawk

You dash across the road on a red light

Heedless of the children who emulate you

You speed the company car at corners

Nearly knocking housewives off their bikes

You stay out drinking then sleep in hotels

While your family slowly forgets your face

You think you are the new samurai

Serving your corporate daimyo

But you lack the courage or patience

Even the lowest bushi would have had

You are what needs to change in Japan

I have made good salarymen friends

Who rush home to see their children grow

And show their love to all around them

Who work to make their company great

Or leave and strike out on their own path

Bad salaryman, so long as you

Put salary before being a man

Neither you or your company will profit