This is another that was first published at 365 Tomorrows.
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I’m staring at the clock. Just staring at it, waiting for it to tick off a minute at which point I will have exactly one hour left of this hell. My brother the crazy artist says I’m not living my life. He says that I’ve sold my soul. If he knew my automator was broken he’d be ecstatic, he’d probably try to get me to go out and party with him as if I didn’t have to go to work anymore.
Actually, though, calling out tomorrow might not be a terrible idea. My productivity is shot anyway – I keep finding myself staring at the screen in front of me, drifting off and daydreaming. It’s the sound of everyone else working; it’s hypnotic. They’re all typing at full speed, seated thirty to a row, all the way down this massive room. It sounds like a thunderstorm pouring around me. I wandered down the aisles this morning for ten wasted minutes, just listening to the endless shower of keystrokes and looking at all of their blank faces… the only good thing was that I saw someone I went to school with. We’ve probably been working together for ten years. I should call her later.
I know my brother isn’t alone, there’s a very vocal minority that will talk your ear off about how terrible automators are. I can only assume none of them have office jobs, because I’ve only been here for four hours and I’m ready to murder someone. Don’t even get me started on my exercise routine! Do I really do that every morning? Why in god’s name would I want to be aware for that? I finished less than half of the workout before going back to bed. If they can’t fix my automator soon I’m going to get all pudgy.
If I tried to explain this to my brother he’d just suggest that I work somewhere more interesting, as if everyone in the world can be an artist for a living. He’d say having less money would be worth not going through life as a zombie, but every second that ticks by feels like an hour and every time I look at the pathetic amount of work I’ve gotten done I know exactly why a “work day” used to be eight hours – more for some people! Missing my life? If this is what my life is when I’m not looking then I’m happy to miss it. Only fifty-nine minutes and thirty seconds to go. Please, let them fix me soon.
Depressing and dystopian... nice. I found myself wondering about how the automators worked, and what jobs (if any) couldn't be automated.
ReplyDeletethis was not my favorite story. Just a thought or complaint really and not really a plot. I am sorry his automator was broken but isn't that a part of life anyway. I understand that you were using his complaint as a way to tell us about how life was at this time but I did not feel that I got even a very complete picture of that. My thoughts only.
ReplyDeleteTwo things:
ReplyDelete1. As with all of the ones that were posted on 365 Tomorrows, there is a discussion in the forums there.
http://www.365tomorrows.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2635
2. I always love to hear what people do and do not like. Especially in these very short stories I actually enjoy reading little snippets of everyday life... so the question is if you just dislike this type of story or if you dislike this one specifically. If it's the former I should just shrug and move on, if it's the latter I should try and find out what I can improve.
Hey that was a really interesting discussion. Thanks for pointing that our to me.
ReplyDeleteThis says a lot without using many words, and I really like that. The scene painted here allows my imagination to write a novel.
ReplyDelete