It’s strange.

You’re looking right at me

But I know

You don’t actually see me.

Not in a magic trick sense.

There’s no misdirection occurring.

Only that,

To you,

In this moment,

You are God.

You are King,

The Queen.

A Royal Flush.

I’m being asked to role play

Without my verbal consent.

It’s supplied and expected

That I stand there and smile

While you order me.

You’re paying me for it.

I know what I was getting in to

When I put on my uniform.

But that’s the problem,

How we knowingly walk into

This unknowable terror

All so we can afford

To go out and do the same

On the others.

I cater to your every need.

You let off some steam and

See it as righteous anger

For food left too cold,

Drinks with too much ice

And waits too long.

On that last point we can agree

The wait is too long

Where I tell myself

Time is a human concept,

Do not watch the clock.

It’s own form of torture.

So that when I finally leave

You pass me on the street.

There’s no nametag,

It lasts a few seconds

Yet I see you see me.

I watch the emotion on your face

As it shifts to guilt and shame.