This Is How It Works

Did you do anything wrong?

No

No, you didn’t do anything wrong

But that’s not the point

That doesn’t matter

What matters is that there was, uh

Wrongdoing

Wrong was done

It doesn’t need to belong to anyone

It just sits out there

It sits there

And waits

For someone

To claim it

And that’s your job

Your job

Is to claim it

Because you’re the boss

You’re the big boss man
And that’s what the big boss man does

A mess

Sits

In the middle of the floor

And somebody looks around

And wonders

Who’s

Going to mop it up

But also--

And this is a separate thing

Some people

People like me

Look around

And think--

Who made this mess?

Now

I know you didn’t make it

I know that

But it doesn’t really matter

That’s the thing

It doesn’t really matter

Who made the mess

Because the mess

Is still sitting

On your floor

Do you get that?

Do you understand

What I’m saying?

There is a mess

On the floor

And the floor

Belongs to you

And so, by default

It’s your mess

And you have to pay for it

Now

The good news is

You don’t--necessarily--have to clean it up

You can leave it

You can leave it for the next guy

To take care of

In fact, that’s what you should do

Because even if you clean it up

You’re still on the way out

You’re still taking a hike

When all this is over

Because that’s how it works

And don’t get me wrong

It’s not fair

Nobody thinks it’s fair

But it’s what happens

When you teeter totter

At the top

Of the pyramid

Sometimes

Down below

Somebody

Some person

Someone you don’t even know about
Because you’re so high up

Somebody--makes a mess

And somehow

It crawls up

All the way up

To you

And you fall

That’s how it works

But hey

At least you got to see the top

Right?

That’s more than most people

Get to see

And that’s not that bad, right?

No, no, no

Not bad

At all