Week 3: "Museum of Politics"

What's my dream job?

This question was a common occurrence to me as a questioned my existence in every minute of my most vulnerable days of living. There were times where I would wake up in bed and then spend the rest of the day trying to return to the dream that distanced myself from reality. Life was dull and unfitting as my regular morning black coffee didn't make me feel better anymore.

My life changed for the best one day as I sat in my bed watching Netflix--from my phone--that rested in my hands, 3 inches away from my face. (A common habit I was guilty of so that I didn't have to leave my comfortable space). I watched Night At The Museum and from then on, I was inspired to become a security guard for a museum. Something about Larry Daley's character found pieces of the "me puzzle" that I had been missing. With a newfound identity, I applied for a security job at the nearest history conservation complex and I was then immediately accepted to be the night watcher of the "Mississippi Museum of Nature and Science."

My beliefs about the movie's authenticity where met by social media accounts online that told me how the cinematography experience I enjoyed was fictionist and capitalistic propaganda to influence kids into buying toys of the characters from the blockbuster hit. One of the most essential aspects of the movie that inspired me was how much it emphasized a community that wasn't only humans, but one that was accepting of all stuffed animals, stoned statues and plastic mini historical figures. My eyes didn't deceive me, my faith for a better life encouraged me and my experience validated me. On my first shift, everything came to life (as expected) and from the bat, I got along with most of the displays in the museum (not to brag). As I adjusted with my new sleeping schedule and challenged my social anxiety to meet everything the museum had to offer, there was a type of adversity I didn't prepare for:

The Robert E. Lee and Christopher Columbus figures always had some beef when they would make a public appearance away from their "Confederacy Remembrance Exhibit." The tension with the figures like Lee and Columbus were everywhere in the museum. Everyone and everything had a problem with them and their social symbolism that they manifested to the world. I didn't want to have a bias since I value the personal worth more than political values but I was impressed with how much political morality influences such person's behavior. My opinions changed, except I had to be a role model for the museum. I accepted the role of being a mediator for all the confrontation that occurred. Lee and Columbus had a tendency to be the instigator since their ego insisted for them to conquer all territory they could and then be worshipped as gods. Anything less than that attacked their toxic masculinity established during their time periods.

There were so many fights that occurred, so many protest and I became more exhausted after every shift. The quality of my coffee was revived after I found the security job, to then be put to death again. I drank so much caffeine that the tolerance I built up caused anymore caffeine to be ineffective. I was done. I lost my dream job. It didn't say in the job description to babysit two human sized colonist while holding back the rest of the museum from sending them back to the factories that stuffed them. No, I had to retire. I saved enough money to move to Havana, Cuba. I gave my two weeks to my manager and told him the issues that I experience while working there. He looked at my awkwardly and said that he never hired a security guard and that he'll review the camera footage to see how many times I was trespassing. I knew it was his weird way of saying "thank you," I understood from the earlier years of my life that people express their love differently.

Tears filled my eyes as I looked through the rear view mirror to see cop cars chasing after me in the distance. To this day, I don't know what problem the American law enforcement has with me. I knew I did my best and I hope the next security guard to watch over the museum can resolve the political issues within it.