What do you think about when you wake up?

Se7en surrounded by suicidal images
while writing an article about "Survivors of Suicide"

Just wondering...because I have realized there are some people who are thinking and planning how to do the absolute least they can get by with. How is that for a life's goal? What a different frame of reference that would be and it seems like it would be more work than actually doing some work.

What could make a person decide they are willing to do everything and anything to meet this objective? Would it be fun to sit idle all day or IM and surf the internet when you are supposed to be doing work? Could I lie to my boss and make up stories about my work? "Oh, I didn't get to that," I could say. "I'll do it today." Or, "I'm working on [the 5-minute project] and it's almost finished."

I imagine her thoughts:
I'm so swamped with...IMs. This book on [complex medical topic] is very interesting to...pretend to read. I can get out of doing work by saying Dr. [fill in the blank] gave me the book. If I look like I understand the book, people will think I'm really smart. In the meantime, I'll refuse to order paper for the copier; after all, why should I waste my time and effort to make a [30-second] phone call when it is far more amusing to watch people scramble for paper when it runs out. I can have fun playing my passive/aggressive game while everyone else around me scurries from one task to another, trying to make up for my slacking. And, I can easily persuade at least one of my coworkers to shirk her duties if I promise to watch her back. The others will scurry around even more then.

We can sneak around and meet in the stairwell to gossip. We can tell our friends at lunch all about it. I bet they will try it too and have some great ideas on how to get out of doing work.

What if this was the meat of my existence? What is it like to feel I never want to learn anything new or become anything more than I am now? What's the point of living if it will consist of hiding behind my desk and working hard not to work? Then, would I turn to spying and gossiping to feel superior to others?

What would I tell myself to justify that? Would I say I am so misused or treated like a slave? They don't pay me enough to care about these things? Everyone else does it? Well, if they followed my example they would. Maybe I'm too naive to think of an excuse good enough. Better stick to my work...a subject I know all about.