I’m a Warehouse Keeper

After graduating from high school, Hong Meisheng went to Shanghai, Nantong, and other places to find work. Through hands-on experience and study, he discovered that warehouses were not complicated at all: as long as you kept records of incoming and outgoing goods and noted where they were stored, you could manage any warehouse well! If you knew how to sort things on a computer, you could log identical items together, making them easier to count. The most complicated thing in a warehouse was people! Some people pretended to know what they were doing, demanding that employees sort everything, master the ERP system, and follow material classification standards. Others wanted the warehouse to remain a mess so they could buy less than they claimed and fish in troubled waters. This story explores how to face the unbearable burdens of life. Hong Meisheng’s experiences reflect the typical plight of migrant workers amid urbanization: institutional exploitation and emotional alienation. The solution requires individuals to improve their professional skills, while also relying on companies to strengthen oversight and on society to improve its social security system. The key to surviving in the workplace is to balance “adapting to the rules” with “holding firm to your principles,” so you do not become a victim of systemic problems. Hong Meisheng chose to avoid the risks by quitting, but did not use the proper institutional channels to address the problem.