John H. Stevens's "Career Change" captures the dread that keeps most of us who live in the cubicle farm chained to our jobs year after year: either suffer the indignities of a corporate life or end up a beggar in the streets. Our protagonist is Fred, a typical corporate IT drone with a maliciously ignorant boss. On the way to work one day, a beggar that he gives money to each day gives him a lucky coin. Fred takes it without thinking about whether even the good luck of a beggar is something he really wants.
So, what does "Career Change" do with that dread once it captures it? Not much. Rather than pointing out that the dread is based on a false dilemma—there are other options—it opts for a cute ending that reinforces the dread. This doesn't hurt the entertainment value of the story, though. At two and a half pages, it's a good read. Well worth heading over to Hub's site for a look.
