Flesh Prison

Having gone through the most notorious technical institute in the country and various tech job afterwards, I'm no stranger to death by exhaustion or its derivative illnesses like GERD. Indeed, a personal acquaintance had recently died in his sleep, GERD being the prime suspect. I did not inquire further. It was too close to home and way too scary to think about. I developed GERD in the second year of college. It was such a common thing that people passed around tips to manage symptoms and survive enough to get your job done. Most days, I could get it under control. Along with many other sicknesses I got as a payment for college, the only way I could hold down a job is to work remotely. I'd had one year where my body felt well enough and I could keep up with nourishing myself. It was the year I got unemployed following a layoff. I had just survived from a fifteen-days overtime. I hadn't been able to cook since last year or so when work really ramped up, so overtimes caused the toxic…