Gabriela was, to a stranger, an ordinary person. Nothing about her would strike anyone as odd, even though she always wore her best depressed face. But what people didn't realize, is that she had this constant facial expression for a reason : she always had the worst luck. In… everything.
More often than not, when she's driving, her road is paved with red lights. She often steps in dog poop, always with the wrong foot. Always loses at any kind of lottery, and even at random guesses. And so on… And all of that also goes back to her childhood. Back then, she was called the '5 Leaf Clover' referencing her awful bad luck.
One day, as she goes outside to check her mail, a surprising letter from the government was there, apparently urgent as well. It was a job offer. A very interesting one also… "Common Sense Consultant". Honestly, she had no idea what it was, and didn't even care until she saw the expected paycheck. So she called to accept the offer right away. What could go wrong ?
Now, what people didn't realize when the Common Sense Consultant - or CSC - position was invented is that the designated person isn't a real consultant, it's a lab rat. Around the CSC, there is a small group dedicated to exploring what kind of activities a common person partakes in. This idea was initially thought as some way to make politicians more aware of 'normal conditions', but ultimately this became a thoughtless stalking and monitoring.
However, the result turned out very interesting. The politicians discovered that the average person always misses due times due to sleeping through alarms. That they get struck by lightning once a week. That rain often starts when a normal person goes off to buy groceries.
After those observations, the politicians started to enjoy the idea of conforming to the needs of the common people of today, so they began to work of new concepts to apply and maybe making new laws. As a result, several surreal propositions were made. Those included the implementation of new public services such as free nighttime hearing aids, isolation hats and umbrella rental spots.
One time, Gabriela was summoned to an official government assembly. After arriving 40 minutes late because of 3 different accidents in traffic, she was consequently applauded for by almost all its members. Still half asleep due to a terrible night, she was wondering if she stepped on some kind of celebration. And she was right : it was a celebration for her. Apparently, due to the inspiration she brought to the politicians, the popularity polls came up better than ever. She was told to keep on doing such a great job. She didn't object… this time.
As time went on, Gabriela didn't bring up so many great ideas any more, as the committee experimented solutions to cure the commoners' many problems, like choking on their own meal multiple times, tripping in the stairs or having their order stuck in a dispensing machine. But after a while, not only they ran out of budget, but they were also told that while the initiative was appreciated, there were much bigger problems to focus on. That surprised them greatly, because to them, those problems were all a commoner would have.
What initially was a great opportunity turned out to be a nightmare to Gabriela. Simultaneously being praised and scolded for her habits - especially being late everytime, despite not being her fault - and having to be monitored 24/7 turned out to be a great deal of stress. The last straw was when her monthly check got blasted by the wind and ended up lost in the rain. And then, she decided to resign. Three times. Because her resignation letter was forgotten by the post office twice in a row.
In the committee, they re-evaluated the purpose of the CSC and thought up of a great idea : a full group of people to observe and listen to. They spent an hour deciding between putting 5 or 7 members in this group, and eventually decided to go with 6. And then, like last, they made random draws among the populations to determine who would be the winners.
The next day, Gabriela went to check her mail. Under her fragile package that was partially destroyed during the delivery, she saw a bunch of letter. All from the government. 1… 2… 6 of them. And then she thought. "Not this time". She then simply closed her mail box and went back to sleep.
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