First day of work. Packing a supermarket’s shelves. Learnt the ropes in half an hour. Was bored an hour later. The neon lights scorch my retinas. Checkout scanners beep in a remarkable imitation of Chinese water torture. There is no music, except for the songs that play in my head. The customers lurch aimlessly through the aisles, like peaceful cattle or lobotomy patients. I’m thinking that the mall in Dawn of the Dead was no exaggeration.

It’s my first day of work and I’m already praying for college to start again.