I
understand, Ma'am and thank you for--", I groaned as the call ended
with the customer yelling profanities in a language I could barely
understand. I took a moment to take in the receiver's dull tone
before I clicked the line off on the multichannel phone. Another
satisfied customer, I sarcastically thought to myself. This was the
fifth call I've been through that ended this way. I rubbed my temples
gently as my head pounded in a rhythmic fashion. All I wanted was
this day to be over. Instinctively, I drew the mouse to the bottom
right of my computer screen to check the time and, as a sigh of
relief, I found I only had two hours left until I was able to clock
out for the day. It would be the longest two hours of my life.

It's
not that I didn't like this job. It has a decent pay and good
benefits. The problem was that I didn't like I had this job. Being a
college graduate and searching for two years, it was sure luck that I
had gotten this job. That didn't make me feel any better. I didn't
get this job out of confidence, it was out of desperation.

I
sighed softly as I pulled the headset off and placed it on the phone.
I took the time to look over my cubicle. Unlike everyone else's
cubicle which had nicknacks and interesting things plastered on their
walls, I just had my work files and pencils. The only thing that
stood out was a small framed picture of myself, my mom and my dad at
my college graduation, myself smiling as I held that degree with
pride. I groaned again once more. Here I was, a wolf from a family of
hardworking wolves who was stuck doing menial work because he
couldn't find anything else available. Sometimes, I stare at that
picture and wondered 'what went wrong?'

Two
coworkers laughing in the distance brought me out of my melodramatic
daze. I felt stupid thinking it. I did have a job! That's what
matters, right? A paycheck and benefits matters more than anything
else, right? I wish I believed that. I shook my head trying to get
out of this negative stint and decided upon getting off my butt for a
moment.

I
looked over to my supervisor sitting in the cubicle next to mine. She
was a pretty cheetah with some delicate features. She usually put
some color highlights in her fur to accommodate a special occasion.
Today was red and white for her favorite football team winning the
seasonal playoffs. She was typing away at an email as I tapped her on
the shoulder. She turned to me and smiled. “Yes, Luke?”

“I'm
going to head to the bathroom. Is that okay?” This would be the
second bathroom break I had today. Nothing mattered more to our
managers than to have us working constantly at our desks but we're
still people and needing ten minutes to stretch your legs was a good
way to keep yourself from feeling stilted. She nodded politely like
she always did but noticed my face looking odd. “Is everything
okay? You don't look well,” I appreciated her concern and shook my
head. “I think my lunch was bad. So, I'm feeling the side effects
from that.” I made a dramatic showing of pain as I held onto my
stomach. She laughed slightly and smiled at me before turning back to
her emails. I sighed softly as I got up from my desk and walked over
to the bathroom.

Walking
to the bathroom was a task in and of itself. As I walked past the
front door, being that the bathrooms were just past it, it did take
all of my willpower to not run out of there. I didn't know why I felt
this way. As I locked myself in and stood at the sink to face the
mirror, I realized what my supervisor was talking about. I looked
like a mess. My fur was disheveled, I felt dirty and stinky even
though I did take a shower in the morning and my buttoned-down shirt
had light stains of ketchup from the burger I ate for lunch. I
groaned again as I splashed some water on my face to try to make
myself more presentable and at least more awake.

Having
a job is better than not having one.
I scoffed as I heard those words from my father repeat in my head.
Yes, having a job is better than nothing but if you're not getting
anything out of it then what is the use? That's my problem. I'm not
feeling as accomplished as I should be. My family was always
successful; hell, my sister has a decent job working as a teacher and
being a teacher sucks, in my humble opinion. At least, she feels
proud doing it. What I'm doing is no better than shoveling shit at a
farm.

I
shook my head once more to get rid of any negative thoughts. “C'mon,
Luke. Just a couple more hours and you're out,” I spoke quietly at
the mirror.