There are two ways to regard Job Shadow Day:

1. It’s an opportunity for schoolkids to visit their mentors’ workplaces, thus giving them a birdseye view of the working world.

2. It’s an unsettling day-long reminder that, in a few short years, that same little observer — or another of his/her generation — will be coming back, resume in hand and gunning for your slot in the corporate machine. One look into that inquisitive little face drives home how ultimately replaceable you are.

Which version is truer to life? Only the shadow knows.