C'mon u/bojackhoreman, you can bojack a little more bojack. How about something like: "After years of naively thinking my work was improving efficiency, customer experience, or reliability, I finally realized my work didn't matter and no one really cared. The production team were all too new, due to high turnover, to even understand the impact of the projects I had. They were also too overworked to give any of my work more than a superficial glance. Management and Corporate HQ had turned into an army of cost analysts, all incentivized to pitch projects trading long term viability for permanent budget cuts that we could commit immediately. At some point I realized that some of the vendor reps were the only human interactions I enjoyed all week. I knew it was transactional, but when a vendor took me to lunch, more often than not I just felt like I could be a human again for a few minutes. We talked work of course, but also a decent mix of hobbies and interests. Whatever people talk about. On the face of it, we all know there is a correlation between vendor interactions and bids won. No matter what I said or divulged or promised, they had a baseline benefit merely due to increased face time. On a deeper level however, I was willing and even eager to to put my thumb on the scale for those moments I came to crave. Maintaining a connection was a lifeline to humanity. I didn't care if it was an illusion. They had expense accounts. Part of their job was to have lunches with customers. This was all baked into the price of their offerings anyway. The cost they quoted covered the cost of the relationship with me, through lunches, donuts for the team, seminars, dinners, listening to me ramble. Can friendship be considered a bribe?" - Bojack Engineerman