There are a lot of jobs in this world and one can achieve great heights arduously following most of them - welding being not an exception. 

This point was evident to Eric who was currently transporting a 275 kg heavy frame to his post through the grinding area where he would cut and wash impurities away with a carbon electrode, a task he was quite familiar over the endless repetition.

However, to achieve said greatness it takes more than just mechanically executing tasks given by your superiors -  you must have solid foundations in your character allowing you to grasp new knowledge, be daring enough to go after short-windowed opportunities and possess certain brown-nosing skills.

All in all, Eric sucked at his job. While being himself aware of this sad point he had little to offer as a solution - his attitude towards other people was poor, overflowing through the cracks of a mask even when he faked piety, his physique was weak and his mental faculties were even weaker.

Sure, these were not insurmountable obstacles and - as in all those motivational movies and popular reads - likely to be conquered if one applied enough will and discipline.

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But why bother, honestly? With his growing age Eric also grew more disenchanted with the world. For every ounce of effort he mustered a more talented and physically gifted person would gain twice the result. And that is not all, a luckiest of them would need no effort at all - if they were born into wealthy family of the upper class.

Rampaging inequality of status and ability between the people made Eric with the years somehow reluctant to compete. At one point in life he used to tell himself that even richest person would eventually meet his ruin with inevitable death, this ruthless common denominator.

However lately this mantra that was once useful in qualming his internal unrest started to backfire because, them - sure, but can't the same be said about you?

Thus Eric grew dispassionate with his trade and was going through the motions, wallowing away his days in established laborous routine.

With disinterest came numbness, and with numbness lack of attention followed. The focus wavered and so had response time. Certain safety procedures were ignored and execution became also poor.

Long story short, the chain was breached and frame fell, delivering in the process damage to Eric's vitals incompatible with his further service, to his secret relief; in other words he died.

But what a joke he got reincarnated.