i don't know, man

The Denver Post ran short pieces on all twelve of those killed in Aurora and for whatever reason, they decided to list their occupations in bold, because as we all know, we would all like to be carelessly filed away into categories should we ever meet a meaningless and violent end. In fact, the only thing this helped me see is that almost all of the young adults killed on Friday were either in the military or worked in food service or retail, which says a lot about the opportunities our generation has been given. 

Subway, likely as part of its massive expansion over the last decade, has insisted on calling its employees “Sandwich Artists,” which is cheeky and obnoxious and even, I think, demeaning toward its low-wage employees, albeit in a roundabout fashion. Is there not a wink and a nod that goes along with this job title? 

My anger, still, goes toward the shooter and the gun lobby and not the Denver Post, but I just wish that this poor girl’s obituary hadn’t been accompanied by the corporate branding nonsense that came with her job. All of our lives could be cut short by lunatics, I suppose. And had I been gunned down at 23 I’d have been labeled, like, “Intern/Waiter” or “Bartender” or “Blogger/Back Waiter”, but I’d hate to think my life was totally defined by these gigs I worked.