We were given an 8 to 5 workday.
They added overtime.
We came in earlier,
stayed late.
Next month the 8-hour day
will become 10-hour shifts,
covering the 7 to 4 workday –
7 a.m. to 4 a.m.

They say it’s optimizing
our work schedules
to meet our customers’ needs.
We say, “I can’t get child care
at 9 o’clock at night” and
“My night course starts next month.”
They tell us, “It’s your job,”
dismissing complaints with an irritated shrug.

The VPs and the senior VPs
and the very president himself
enumerate the endless benefits
of working at BankBig:
We give you reduced ticket prices to concerts
and baseball games and discounts on laptops
and bonus points if you use your BankBig credit card
at Nordstrom and Lowe’s –
and we barely score 30% job satisfaction?
With scorn and disbelief they ask,
“What is wrong with these people?”

Next month, the week I start
my 8 p.m. shift, I’ll take
the annual employee survey.
They could use a lesson in optimization.