the devil you know

"the devil you know"
There is a man.
He is simple, mediocrely educated.
He sits at a desk all day, he files his papers,
He goes to lunch with Pam the file girl.
But there is a devil inside him.

The devil is unsatisfied with his life.
The devil does not like his dead-end job.
The devil does not like his small desk.
The devil does not like his windowless office.
The devil does not like Pam.

The devil is what urges the man to spend more time scheming.
The devil is what urges the man to grow terse, opinionated.
The devil whispers to the man; he is simple enough to hear it.
"You deserve that corner office. You deserve lovely loose Laura, not Pam."
"You need to show them. Show them all you've earned it."

The man listens. The man smiles. He does deserve it. He has earned it.
It's his right. No one else can do his job. He's irreplaceable.
The man stops working. The man becomes a liability.
The man is fired. The devil rages.
The man is escorted off company property, forced to leave without his things.
He returns with a gun, three days later, to retrieve his property.

He is weighed and judged by a nation.
Why would such a quiet man snap?
Because of his only sin, the devil in his heart.
Pride.