Boss

Three years ago, I winced everytime I was called “boss.” In video games, the boss is the monster. I told my subordinates to just call me “ma’am.” But I guess it’s culture. They couldn’t help it. They blurt out the word everytime, especially if their asking favors. Boss, may I? Boss, can I?

I hate the word because it creates a divide: between the “haves” and the “have-nots.” I like the feeling of being respected, but not one of veneration. I am not a god. I am just human. I commit mistakes. I am just like everyone else.

I hate it when people who are called “boss” think that they are gods. That they could do no wrong. That what they say is the truth. That they don’t give a f*ck about how others feel. That they are the center of the universe. That everyone should follow them at all costs. That others don’t deserve a life of their own.

I hate it when the boss uses power to bring down others. By making them feel worthless. By making them think that their best is never good enough. By making them feel hopeless. By making them think that their only salvation is the boss’s approval.

Respect is not a privilege of only the powerful. Even the powerless deserves it. Power is earned only when others submit to you. A power imposed is fleeting and meaningless.

Whoever started calling the game’s super-monster as the “boss” is a genius. With that, the boss becomes the evil that makes others’ lives miserable. The boss is super-powerful but everyone hates him because he sucks the life out of the powerless. The boss preys on the weak and eats them alive. The boss is ugly and simply hideous, by all standards.

But without the boss, there are no heroes. These few good men rise to match the boss’s strength and empower themselves so they can challenge him. The heroes rally the weak behind their cause to vanquish the monster. In the end the heroes win. Everyone is happy and starts a new life.

But even in video games, the heroes become corrupted by power they acquired that they become monsters in the end, just like Lord Arthas who became the Death Knight and later the Lich King in Warcraft Frozen Throne. Even in movies: for example, Star Wars’ Anakin Skywalker who later on became Darth Vader. Even in politics, with the likes of George W. Bush, from being the defender of the democratic way of life after 9/11 to Darth Invader of Iraq and the Iraqi way of life.

Whoever said that “power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” is a philosopher-king. But you see, without the followers, no one will be powerful. If the followers can only see that the power of the undeserving is temporal, then they will not fear that power. But it takes a hero to make them see that.

I wanted to be that hero. But right now, I can’t, because I’m already a boss. Much as I’d like to break out from the power structure, I couldn’t for fear of being cast away because I couldn’t live up to being a boss. Should I turn my back against my kind? Am I ready to lose everything? The stakes are high. Because I’m a boss. Funny, how a word can hold you captive.