I’m going to be very honest – this piece should not have been formatted as an article. This is written as if it were to be a novella/novelette than a lengthy article. In terms of anything surprising in the “article,” I’m honestly not surprised. Growing up, I had a brother who was a devout vegan and animal rights activist, so many of the horror stories about the meat packing/processing industry I heard about through him and doing my own extensive research throughout high school. It does bring back some thoughts about trying to go vegan myself, but with my health it would be impractical to do so. Regardless, it’s fascinating to hear from the perspective of someone who works in a processing plant and is grappling with existentialism, all while continuing with the status quo as they realize there’s not a lot they can do.