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Written and Created by Michelle SHAAY

The hot, large cup of coffee was just what she needed. It was really chilly in her makeshift office on this particularly sunny morning. Even though she didn’t even like the flavor of it Myra added a shot of Vodka to make it more appealing. It had been a long and frustrating week. As more news poured in about a menacing pandemic and downturn in the economy her options were quickly drying up. Her company was so afraid of the current events, they decided to completely demolish an entire building and division that housed her position of five years. For several days she mulled in her head why this was even happening. The thoughts continued to creep in regarding her own choices that may have led up to this point. Should she have quit the job within two years, focused more on obtaining more degrees and started her own business instead of staying put for the sake of comfort and predictability in having a traditional job? It was all a little too much to even begin to swallow. The hunt for something of equal compensation and perks was not easy and this day seemed to be no different. The promises of remote work seemed pretty good though. Although she never even considered the idea of working entirely from her quaint and quiet townhome it was an option she thought needed to be explored further and rather quickly.

“Damn it!” she yelled while scrolling through her text messages. There was one from the county reminding her that property taxes were now overdue and a late penalty had been assessed of at least fifteen percent. It included a per diem and some other county flat fee. She was entirely over it all and quite frankly numb.

Myra’s inbox was cluttered with numerous emails from various employment platforms. She had not received any substantial job offers in over a month. She was becoming borderline desperate and even cynical. The elusive promise of any supplemental income from the state didn’t help the situation either.

Today as she reviewed her inbox two possible invitations looked promising. They both read that pending interviews would be contingent upon completing the prospective employer’s assessment first.

As Myra adjusted her glasses and scrolled the laptop screen, she sighed heavily. Breakfast would have to wait and her morning workout too.

The first employment post mentioned the need for flexibility on all weekends and also mandatory overtime could be required on short notice. The daily commute would be approximately 25 miles away.

“No way, no thank you people,” she uttered while deleting the post.

The other post seemed far more reasonable. It indicated it was a remote position that required only 40 hours a week, no weekends. The following disclaimer was also listed in bold black letters:

“Due to the sensitive nature of the organization’s work, all employees activities are recorded the entire work day excluding breaks. In addition to lap top surveillance, a facial recognition software application will be used before and after each shift. This is non-negotiable.”

Behind the wordy disclaimer, a virtual “okay” button appeared.

Reluctantly Myra clicked it. She felt no other options were available since her 401K had been slowly depleted. Her groceries were fading pretty fast and her gas tank was near empty.

A screen appeared with another disclaimer advising any candidate “N/A” was acceptable to use in any portion of the assessment modules. It further claimed it would not impact a candidate’s score or eligibility for consideration.

Myra was surprised to see the organization’s assessment included five sections. They were aptitude, educational level, a workplace attitude profile, vocal sample recording, and consent to upload a valid and official photo I.D. for facial recognition purposes. Once everything had been submitted by Myra, it would be reviewed and scored for “further consideration” and “eligibility” would also be determined.

While completing the workplace attitude profile, Myra decided to use the “N/A” method. “This is kind of odd, but I really need employment soon,” she mumbled while reading the questions.

The first one read “WOULD YOU DUMB DOWN YOUR KNOWLEDGE TO AVOID (Virtual) CONFLICT IN THE WORKPLACE? This ALSO includes Managers, HR, Talent Acquisition, Engagement Team, etc.

“WOULD YOU CHANGE YOUR HAIRSTYLE OR LOOK IF ASKED TO DO SO BUT NO GOOD REASON WAS GIVEN?“(Remotely and/or In-Person Work Applies)

“WOULD YOU IDENTIFY AS NON-BLACK, NON-WHITE, A BLEND OF BOTH GROUPS, OR THIS IDENTIFIER IS UNIMPORTANT?”

“FACIAL RECOGNITION SOFTWARE AND SURVEILLANCE WILL BE UTILIZED, WOULD YOU ATTEMPT TO TURN OFF THE LAP TOP CAMERA DURING SCHEDULED WORK HOURS?”

“DO YOU THINK VOICE CADENCE AND TONE INFLUENCE OTHERS PERCEPTION OF YOU?”

“PLEASE RECORD YOURSELF SAYING NOT APPLICABLE OR N/A TO COMPLETE THIS ASSESSMENT.”

Myra complied with the instructions and hit the final “submit” button. Immediately she received an email and it instructed her to click it for the “results of the assessment.”

After several minutes of buffering the screen finally appeared with a hyperlink. It was a bright orange and blinking miserably with a strange sounding voice effect too. It kept repeating a disclaimer to the person or persons in front “of the PC to click here Or lose your opportunity forever.” Myra shook her head at first with reluctance and began to log off completely when her emotions got the best of her. She had bills mounting above her head and the demand notices for payments from various creditors wouldn’t stop either until she attempted to make some arrangements. Myra needed money quickly to avoid a disastrous end to her quality of life. It was now or never and how would she know if this opportunity was exactly what she’d been hoping for if she didn’t click the link. As she sighed heavily and counted from one to ten, she proceeded to complete the assessment.

The brief email read: Dear candidate known as Myra, you willingly consented to our social experiment. Thanks for your time. A ONE TIME payment will arrive via the PAYYOURPARTICIPANT app within 48 hours. The app was automatically sent while we, (our organization) listened and watched you complete our social experiment.

No further action is required of you Myra.

-In Science and Social Experiments Do We Solemnly Trust

The Mental Mind Benders Group LLC

(This in an Auto-Reply email-there will be no further interaction)

Myra sat motionless while staring at the laptop.

-The End

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