The world thinks the Russian Revolution is at an end. Do not be mistaken. The Russian Revolution is just beginning.

-Alexander Kerensky

A supermarket in Box Hill sits teetering on the verge of Revolution. It's easily comparable to Russia circa 1905, tensions mounting, but alas, nothing will ever be able to be done about its authoritarian rule.
How do I know these details, you ask? I myself am caught amidst the atmosphere of disdain, and truthfully, I am the Father Gapon of Coles!
I represent the peasants, the serfs, as I am close to the bottom of the hierarchy established, and sadly, the hierarchy is obvious and the serfs like me are manipulated by those on top.
(It's incredible how similar this is to Russia, before the genius of Lenin came in to save the people. Not that he did....)

The customers are the nobility and the upper class. They do not even pretend to care about me or my feelings. They do things that deliberately infuriate me and to openly show their disgust at my presence;
-throw 'environmentally friendly' bags at me, even though I have already packed half of their items and demand I take them out, to 'ease' their conscience
-ignore me when I ask them how they are
-pay 50 cent items with a 100 dollar note
In fact, this list is never ending. The amount of things customers can do to make it conclusive that they are horrible, blood-sucking monsters, is astounding.
I finally understand the full pain and suffering undergone by the peasants of Russia pre-Revolution.

The supervisors induce a sense of fear in me. I fear everything about them, yet they are not overly cruel, in fact they are barely cruel at all. Perhaps the best way to describe them is to go back to the French Revolution, and define them as the "Bourgeoisie". Better then me, but they too want a change in the society, or store. And we must not forget that they started out as what I currently am.

Much, much more fear creating are the managers. Everytime they come near me, I freeze up inside, and on the outside my palms begin to sweat and my speech begins to stutter. They are the autocratic rulers. Unlike the upper class, they do not openly hate me. Just discretely, and in no way do they want to make life, or work, any better for me. They enjoy watching me suffer, and/or they do not care for I am to far bellow for their attention. When I am forced into cancelling a shift, my heart beats a million miles a minute at the thought of what they will say. When I make a mistake at work, I fear severe consequences, so much so that I don't inform anyone and just 'fix' it myself.

This situation at the store in not fixable. And the only difference between it and the Russian revolution is that there will, sadly, be no overthrowing of the regime. The Russian revolution had the genius of Lenin, the courage of Trotsky. All of these elements are missing from Coles, but perhaps one day, well after my time there, something will be done to end the oppresive rule.