| Fat |
March 13, 2017
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| In this society, the government had a hard time to reduce the budget for health insurance, so they made a drastic change. The guy was a little bit fat. He received a letter from the government which read that he was categorized 'Rank C' and had to follow the following instructions from the first Monday in January. The first Monday of January came, but he still hadn't read the instructions. He was a busy business man. He was planning to read the document on the subway going to work. He got to the station and approached one of the ticket gates. He took out his smartphone. Recently he added a train ticket service app on his phone. He held his phone above the machine but the gate didn't open. He did it again, only this time he held his phone closer, but the gate still didn't open. He sighed and went to a counter near the gate. A female clerk had noticed him having problems at the gate and said, "Excuse me, but do you happened to be 'Rank C', sir?"  He noticed that she was glancing at his stomach. "What! Are you saying I can't pass through the gate because of my weight?" he shouted. Some passersby looked at him. He went to the nearest bench and took the letter from his bag, and started to read. The document read: 'Rank C' is light treatment compared with 'Rank A' and 'B'. In 'Rank A', you need to be hospitalized and are under strict caloric control for several months. In 'Rank B', you have to be hospitalized every weekend during certain months. 'Rank C' only demands that you walk. You can't use any transportation like trains, buses, taxies, etc. including your car. Please remember that we know your car number. Walk, walk, walk, and get back to being healthy! "This is none of your business!" He shouted. Some of the passersby looked at him strangely. He thought a little and grinned, "They are not so smart." He went to the ticket selling machine and bought a ticket for his destination. He returned to the gate and put it into the machine. The ticket was swallowed but the gate didn't open. He looked at the female clerk at the counter. She pointed to the ceiling above the gate. There were cameras aimed at each gate. "Is the camera identifying me? That's impossible!" The clerk shrugged. Now he was waiting for a bus at a bus stop. There is no gate for a bus, he thought. He could use coins for the fare. He didn't think that the bus driver would have a picture of him, like those for the most wanted-criminals. Even so, he could ignore the driver. The driver would have to go because there would be many passengers. A bus came and he paid for the fare and got on the bus, and the bus started. He sighed with relief. But after a while, an announcement came from the speakers, "For the passenger of 'Rank C'. You can't use this bus. Please get off at the next bus stop. If not, the police will arrest you." He felt some passengers were looking at him. At the next bus stop he got off running. The driver said sorry. He called his boss and said he would be late because of a traffic jam. He sat down on the bench and started to think about other alternatives. First he thought about a taxi but soon he gave up the idea. Maybe the same result would happen. Nowadays all taxis had cameras to record crime or car accident scenes. Maybe they were connected to the government's super computers. The taxi might go to the police station directly. "How about calling some of my friends. But it would take time. On top of that, if so, my friends would make it a topic for ages." He gave up. "So, should I walk?" It was 10 km or so from there to his office. It was not a distance that a human couldn't walk. "Absolutely not!" He didn't want to obey this unreasonable order. "So …" He went to the nearest convenience store and bought a thick black marker. He returned to the bus stop and started to write on the back of the document letter which came from the government. He wrote with large letters 'To XXX Avenue', which was the address of his office. This was the first experience for him to hitchhike. He didn't think this would work. It seemed weird that a business man in a business suit with a business bag would hitchhike. But he was going to try until he could get a ride. He was desperate. He stood up by the side of the road. He held up the paper to the cars coming toward him on the busy road. Soon a strange thing happened, many cars pulled over and offered him a ride. They said that they had had a hard time to live as a 'Rank C' holder, and they hated it. |
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*app :アプリ
*alternative :代案
*desperate : やけっぱち
*pull over :車を寄せて止める