The Crate: After Dinner Conversation, #68

By David Rich

Synopsis: Two women escape from a country that forces equal treatment to one that encourages differences, and find both have their issues.

After Dinner Conversation believes humanity is improved by ethics and morals grounded in philosophical truth. Philosophical truth is discovered through intentional reflection and respectful debate. In order to facilitate that process, we have created a growing series of short stories, audio and video podcast discussions, across genres, as accessible examples of abstract ethical and philosophical ideas intended to draw out deeper discussions with friends and family.

Podcast discussion of this short story, and others, is available on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and Youtube.

• Language: English
• Publisher: After Dinner Conversation
• Release date: Aug 31, 2020
• ISBN: 9798201643010

Book preview

The Crate

After Dinner Conversation Series

I CRUISED OUT OF BLE’S house in my crate. A teenaged girl like myself, she was one of few people I’d ever seen in person.

I stopped my crate in no place in particular to flat out break the law. I was so good at hacking crates that I’d reprogrammed mine to open upon command. Crazy illegal!

All crates were programmed to protect everyone’s fundamental right not to be seen. Basically, they remained closed until confirming you’re in the presence of only legally sanctioned live contacts. Then you go back in before seeing any unauthorized people.

History recounts that long ago, people judged one another by things such as gender, ethnicity, occupation, personal transportation vehicle, etc. But the modern American Political Union, our beloved A.P.U., made that intrinsically impossible.

When the door opened, I stepped out of my crate into broad daylight. Although my actions were illicit, I expected no witnesses and deemed them as harmless.

I viewed a sea of crates, perfectly identical boxes on wheels, rolling to their individual destinations. Inside each, I imagined a human being enjoying physical isolation by texting, gaming, taking in media, or any number of things.

Then, I glimpsed a mother and child crossing the street. I believe they were of Asian descent (though we rarely spoke of ethnic physical traits). Certainly, they’d legally arranged to walk wherever they were headed. But we weren’t supposed to see one another.

The girl stared at me; she didn’t appear old enough to understand the law. When the mother spotted me, she made her daughter look away and hurried her along.

The moment was amazing. They were two random people I’d never seen before. Above all, I’d beaten the system. I was powerful. The mother who’d seen me couldn’t disguise her horror.

It was exhilarating.

OF THE PEOPLE I’D KNOWN in person, all but BLE were family relations. BLE was my only ‘live’ friend; all my remaining friends were still virtual. It was a sore subject for me. I suspect that by my age, most had several legally sanctioned live friends.

I remembered hacking BLE’s crate profile and learning that