Rob Payne

Rob Payne is a Canadian novelist.

Working Class Zero (2003)

 * My life is ticking away one subway token at a time - a never ending pirouette of arriving and departing, pushing through turnstiles, nodding goodbye and hello. In eight hours I'll be allowed to turn around and go home.
 * Chapter 1, p. 1 (opening line...)


 * Like so many other office workers of the world, I will obey my master, the clock, and will obediently nod to my co-workers and make small talk about sports, kids and weather - all things I'm not genuinely interested in.
 * Chapter 1, p. 1


 * This is the factory of the new millennium, the new working class, where industrious drones keep track of other people's wealth as it accumulates. Our collars may be white, but our outlooks are gray and our paycheques ar most definitely lacking in green.
 * Chapter 1, p. 8


 * Authority is permission to spew platitudes to people below you.
 * Chapter 1, p. 10


 * Its always good to have a theme.
 * Chapter 2, p. 14


 * If you have any doubt that time is relative, try stretching fifteen minutes' worth of input of over four hours cubicle-cell time with an ultra-slow internet connection and frequent visits from supervisors.
 * Chapter 4, p. 31


 * In today's competitive business world, it is not enough to do your job well; no, to be truly effective, you have to develop skills and strategies for things you'll never have to do, and situations that will never come up.
 * Chapter 4, p. 33


 * "You should try the margarita," she says. " Are they the best in town?" She shrugs. "I don't know. But I like them. They have two ounces of tequila in them and fuck you up big time."
 * Chapter 4, p. 38


 * I pitied myself for having no door until I met a man with no dividers.
 * Chapter 6, p. 47
 * Sometimes I wonder why the corporate world is seen as a god choice for those of us that will never rise above clerical work and general administration.
 * Chapter 7, p. 61


 * I'm trustworthy and true and a whole of other positive words that start with T.
 * Chapter 11, p. 89


 * Are people happier with a smaller range of experiences?
 * Chapter 11, p. 90


 * False hope is the bread - and - butter of my existence, the only thing that keeps me going.
 * Chapter 11, p. 91


 * "I wonder what the difference is between love and lust."
 * Chapter 12, p. 103


 * People never realize how much work impacts there self esteem and sense of purpose until they leave a job.
 * Chapter 16, p. 127


 * "Fine. Your oatmeal spread in the fridge would go too, but it's already been opened. That stuff was disgusting." "Jay, thats my facial scrub."
 * Chapter 17, p. 141


 * Being really poor is frightening, and draining, but I got through it.
 * Chapter 17, p. 141


 * There has to be a better use for titanium than golf clubs.
 * Chapter 19, p. 154


 * If life is a journey, time should pull over at a rest stop sometimes - we should all be given a chance to get off and stretch our legs, collect our thoughts and reorganize.
 * Chapter 24, p. 191


 * People are shuffling by in long coats, with shopping bags and takeout, smoking cigarettes and feigning laughter - filling up their lives with distractions to shut out the chaos.
 * Chapter 26, p. 201


 * Being unique is highly over rated.
 * Chapter 29, p. 228
 * It's nice to have one worry marched to the wings and forcefully thrown into the alleyway.
 * Chapter 32, p. 247


 * It's easy to be cynical; harder is remembering that on any given day the person beside you on the subway or taking to long to pay for a tub of yogurt at the supermarket could be going through something tremendous and sorrowful and arduous.
 * Chapter 33, p. 250


 * People might gain insight the longer they live, but things never get easy. There will always be challenges and miscommunications and the temptation to eat greasy, bowel clogging fried food, and take others for granted. The secret is to keep moving and try to see people yo love for what they are: flawed, beautiful and as confused as you.
 * Chapter 34, p. 263