I’ve been a level five rapid presser for almost four years now. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever get a promotion. There are no better pressers on line 42, even though a few others have seniority.
I live in the “City”. I always have. As a matter of fact I’ve never been out of the City. Not even on a field trip. My grandpa went to Area Four during the Data Wars, but that was about fifty years ago.
I love my job but it’s starting to get a little boring. It’s not challenging anymore. I feel like I’m ready and able to take on some additional responsibilities. I think that I’ve outgrown my current position. I didn’t spend all that time in job-eds just to be stuck here on line 42 for the rest of my life. I want to start making a difference.
In the beginning, after I graduated and became a system worker, I thought I would just coast through life trying to do as little as possible (like in training). I figured that as long as I had a place to sleep and a full stomach everything would be okay. But as I saw and heard more about the real world and what it had to offer to those who work hard and strive to advance, I changed my mind. Now I’m not satisfied living in the middle class. Level five just doesn’t seem that exciting anymore.
For you non-tech or pre-grad readers let me explain how the system works.
Once you pass your grads exams you are evaluated and assigned to a position in the system. Most of the time an individual will be assigned to the same kind of job that his parents had when they started. There are some rare exceptions but in most cases if your father and grandfather were pressers, you will be one. About 60% of the population are pressers. Around 20% are domestics, 15% are Administrators and 5% are Top Floors.
The main function of a presser at any level is to press the button on his or her console at the
appropriate time in the cycle. There are ten levels of pressers and within each level there are three speed designations (slow, average and rapid). The level number is relative to
the size of the button that the presser operates. The size of a level one button is about 3/8″ across. In comparison a level ten button is about 3″ across (or so I’ve been told). The speed designation only applies to the first five levels. Beginning with level six there is only one speed rating and that is average.
All pressers are responsible for one button. The button must be pressed at the right time in the cycle and at the right speed. Rapid pressers must press their button about once every three to four minutes. Every console has several built in safety features to help keep the presser from missing his press. There are three lights on the console for visual cues. A green light flashes when the button is ready to be pushed and the presser has forty-five seconds to press it. Once the cycle starts the red light flashes until the cycle has finished and then a yellow light flashes for about forty-five seconds before the green light comes back on and the process starts again. There are also two different audio warning signals to help prompt the presser at the appropriate time. One can only imagine how much more complicated and difficult the job would be as the size of the button increases.
At home I often look out through the port in my cubical to the residence section beyond the transport rail and dream about being there. It’s the section where the level six and sevens live. Once you make it to the other side of the rail you have it made.
I do admit that I’m a little jealous, but I guess they all deserve what they have. After all they do push a bigger button than I do.
The posters that the system put out say that we all can go as far as we want to go in the system and we all have an equal opportunity. All we have to do is work hard and follow the rules. So I figure that if I really buckle down and concentrate on “MY” button and leave all the big decisions and the rule making to the Top Floors, only good things can happen.
I should be pushing a bigger button in no time.
copyright 2006 Gary Templeton, gary@listentomelater.com
