Snakes & Ladders

I have always liked the throbbing tunes and spiky lyrics of the group called Men at Work. They took it upon themselves, years ago, to talk about life in the perfectly normal working world—except that there is a timeless quality about their thoughts. Here, for example, are the lyrics of 'Snakes and Ladders':

I could stand but I don't like the feeling
I could fall but I'm always on the floor
You could make a million staring at the ceiling
You could break your back and still be poor

One for the liar
One for the cheat
One for the man who you'll never meet
Piece of the action and a portion of pie
They'll be there waiting when your big chance comes by

There's a snake on top of every ladder
Who will tell you that he's your best friend
Everyone important needs an adder
But subtraction gets you in the end

One for the liar
One for the cheat
One for the man who you'll never meet
Piece of the action and a portion of pie
They'll be there waiting when your big chance comes by

They don't care, they don't mind
The in-betweens will steal you blind
I don't know, I can't say
It seems it's always been this way
You won't feel or complain
The gentle leech will cause no pain

It's one sharp vignette of working life. There's always someone creaming off your work and not attributing it to you; this is seen as right and fair by some people. They fish you out when they need good work done; they bury you when you are inconvenient; this is the way of the world.

I've been reading the interesting and hair-raising accounts in the first book of Samuel the prophet. Things were the same then too.