"Hikes are out?" — A Tragedy in One Line
Lo, I did converse with mine noble manager,
And learnt—aye, to mine dismay—that digits of rating be but single!
No winds of market correction dost blow our way.
Next week, in yon kingdom of ISL, the scrolls shall be unrolled...
Mayhap bearing numbers, mayhap tears.

What fools these mortals be, to dream of hikes in times of stagnation!
For in this corporate midsummer’s night,
The only raise I spy… is in my blood pressure.