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diff --git a/32658.txt b/32658.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9f500b0 --- /dev/null +++ b/32658.txt @@ -0,0 +1,897 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Standardized Man, by Stephen Bartholomew + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Standardized Man + +Author: Stephen Bartholomew + +Release Date: June 2, 2010 [EBook #32658] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STANDARDIZED MAN *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + Transcriber's Note: + + This etext was produced from IF Worlds of Science Fiction + February 1958. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence + that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed. + + + + + + + + _The dilemma of "The Man in the White Suit" was but a minor + irritation compared to Charles and his "all-weather" suit!_ + + + THE STANDARDIZED MAN + + BY STEPHEN BARTHOLOMEW + + + + +The turbocar swiped an embankment at ninety miles an hour; the result +was, of course, inevitable. It was a magnificent crash, and the driver +was thrown clear at the end of it for a distance of 50 feet. + +Charles looked at the body and got his bright idea. + + * * * * * + +The trouble had started a couple of weeks before, when Edwin, Charles' +laboratory co-ordinator, had called him into his office just before +Charles was due to leave for home. It was a distinct breach of +etiquette to cause a worker to arrive home at any time besides his +accustomed hour, so Charles knew whatever Edwin wanted must be +important. He sat down opposite the Co-ordinator and assumed a +politely questioning look. + +"Charles, you know I wouldn't call you here at this hour if it wasn't +important," Edwin said, pursing his lips. + +"Of course not, sir," Charles replied, waiting. + +"The fact of the matter is, we are in dire straits." Edwin stared at +the other ominously. "As you well know, the Textile Industry, like +every other business firm in the world, has functioned entirely +without economic troubles of any sort for the past fifty years." + +"Well, of course, sir...." + +"And you are also well aware of what would be the results of any +financial deviation in any of these firms, particularly in a major +industry such as our own." + +"Certainly, sir. Ours is a delicately balanced economic system. Any +slight change in the economic status of one firm would...." + +"Exactly!" Edwin leaned across the desk and glared at him. "I have +just come from a Board of Directors meeting. And it was made known to +us that during the past three weeks our margin of profit has fallen +off by three tenths of a per cent!" + +Charles' face turned pasty white. He swallowed and took a deep breath. + +"Will that information be made public, sir?" + +"Naturally not! But we aren't sure just how long we can keep it a +secret! The fact of the matter is, the IBM says that our profit margin +will continue to spiral downward at a gradually increasing rate unless +some drastic change occurs in our production set-up!" + +Edwin leaned back and clasped his hands, composing himself. "The +precise reasons for the existence of the situation are quite obscure. +However, the IBM has informed us that the problem can be remedied if +we make a particular change in our production system, and it has +informed us as to the nature of that change." + +He stood up and placed a finger on a capacitance switch. A panel in +the Wall slid back to reveal six sales charts. There were two each +marked _Winter_, _Summer_ and _Spring-Fall_. Three were designated +_marlons_, and three _marilyns_. Each of them showed a red line rising +steeply on the left, levelling out to a perfectly straight bar all the +way across, then dipping sharply again. + +"Look here," Edwin said. "These are the sales charts for our six +suits. As you know, we make three different types for marlons, and +three for marilyns. Hot-weather, cold-weather, and medium-weather. +Each suit is designed to last a carefully calculated length of time, +and each consumer need only buy three suits a year. They are exactly +alike except for slight size differences, and because of elastic +fabrics these differences are held to a minimum. With this system the +Textile Industry attained the ultimate in Standardization, the +ultimate in efficiency." + +Charles rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Has the IBM suggested any +alternative to our system, any possible change?" + +Edwin sat down again, folded his arms on the desk, and scowled. +"That's where you come in! The IBM informs us that there is only one +possible way to stabilize our economy, to raise our profit margin to +its former level--and that is by further standardization!" + +Charles raised his eyebrows. "You mean a sexless wardrobe, sir? That's +been tried...." + +"No, that's _not_ what I mean!" Edwin snapped. "What I mean is an +_all-weather suit_!" + +Charles swallowed audibly at that and said nothing. + +"You can see the advantages, of course," Edwin explained. "We'd need +only to manufacture two types of suit, marlon and marilyn. Since we'd +never have to adjust our factories, we could drop a lot of unnecessary +technicians, and with the further standardization, manufacturing would +be faster and cheaper--a _lot_ cheaper. The consumer would only +purchase one suit a year, but we could make up for that by raising the +prices somewhat." + +Charles finally got a word in. "But, _sir_! An all-weather suit? How +can we design a suit that will be equally comfortable in the middle of +a Florida heat-wave or a New England snowstorm?" + +"How? _How?_" Edwin's voice raised and his finger pointed. "_You're_ +the research chemist, Charles! You're supposed to tell _me_ how!" + +"Sir? I...." + +"Listen!" Edwin poked the other in the chest. "I assume you know what +will happen to Society if the Textile Industry becomes economically +unstable?" + +"Well, yes sir, but...." + +"Then I assume you realize that the Board of Directors will stop at +nothing to preserve the status quo! And since you happen to be our +chief industrial chemist, the entire problem lands in your lap! Now, +we want to know how to make an all-weather suit, and we want to know +_fast_. Therefore, Charles, you're going to tell us how to do it! +Understand?" + +Charles nodded unhappily. "Yes sir, I understand." + + * * * * * + +Charles went to work the next day after informing his wife that she +could expect him to begin keeping rather irregular hours at the +laboratory. The idea of any kind of irregularity was enough to worry +any wife, and Ingrid was the naturally suspicious type. She was always +nagging and had, upon occasion, even gone so far as to insinuate that +Charles had individualist tendencies. + +So he knew that she would, embarrassingly, call Edwin to check up on +him, but he didn't really care. + +The real problem was the all-weather suit. + +Charles put his small corps of assistants on the project, +investigating several lines of thought at once. Every day, someone +would drop around for a while to check on his progress, and he had no +delusions about what would happen if he failed. The entire economic +stability of his society depended on his coming up with an all-weather +suit, and he began to have trouble sleeping nights. + +Eventually, he found what looked like a workable solution. + +He called Edwin to tell him about it, and Edwin came down to the lab +to see for himself. + +"Is _this_ it?" he asked, picking up what looked like a burlap +handkerchief. + +Charles cleared his throat. "Well, that's the first sample, sir. Of +course, it's possible to obtain a finer weave once we find out a few +things about it, and when it's bleached...." + +Edwin nodded impatiently. "Yes, yes. Well, what's so special about +it?" + +"Well, it's made of a radically new type of fiber, sir...." + +"How's it new?" + +"I can show you more technical data on it, sir, but basically the +difference between this and conventional types of fiber is that this +is thermostatic." + +"How do you mean, thermostatic?" + +"Well, sir, basically, the diameter of the fiber is inversely +proportional with the temperature. When the temperature rises, the +fiber contracts, and when the temperature drops, it expands. So in +cold weather, you have a fine, tight weave with good insulation, and +in warm weather you have a loose weave with ventilation...." + +Edwin nodded and dropped the fabric on a lab bench. "Sounds good." + +"Well sir, we have to make a few more tests on it, and it'll have to +be field tested before we can decide if it's safe to use in +garments...." + +Edwin tapped him on the shoulder. "Test it, Charlie." + +"Sir?" + +Edwin frowned. "We don't have as much time as you think. We need that +suit of yours _fast_. We can't afford to waste any more time puttering +around the laboratory. You have the fellows downstairs make up some of +this stuff into a Standard suit, and I want you to put it on yourself. +What I mean is, _today_!" + +Charles' jaw dropped. "Today! But...." + +"No buts! Wear it a couple of days, and if you say it checks out, we +go into production immediately." + +So Charles went home that night in a new suit and a worried frown. + + * * * * * + +Things were smooth for about two days. Charles continued to wear the +suit and Edwin insisted on his making the preliminary preparations for +the mass-production of thermostatic fabric. Charles was kept busy +working out specifications. + +Then there were two factors that brought about a drastic change in his +life. + +One was that he was worried. Charles wasn't exactly sure what he was +worried about, but at the back of his mind there was something in the +complicated molecular structure of the new fiber that bothered him. + +The other factor was that Ingrid was still nagging him. Perhaps if +Charles had been able to tell her what he was working on she would +have understood why he was worried. But he didn't tell her, and she +didn't understand. + +One day after Charles had come home and eaten, she started an argument +with him about something or other, and in the most heated part of the +battle she had hurled at him the supreme insult. + +"Charles," she said, "I think you _look_ different!" + +Coupled with the strain that Charles was under, that had been enough +to make him stare at Ingrid for a moment, wheel and stalk out of the +apartment. + +After all, to say that one's face was even subtly different--even if +it really was--was an unforgivable insult. + +Charles went out for a long, solitary evening walk and ended up at one +of those places that features six varieties of beer, a continuous +floor show and a loud band. Charles was not quite aware of entering, +but once inside, watching the bump-and-grinders who wore nothing but +their name tags, he found it difficult to leave. + +The room was just ventilated enough to prevent suffocation, but it was +purposely kept hot and stuffy in the hope that this would induce +thirst on the part of the customers. + +When he thought about it later he decided it was undoubtedly the +humidity that had caused the catastrophe, but when it happened he +hadn't the foggiest notion what was going on. + +All he knew was that he had signalled a waitress for a third beer, she +had come threading her way between the postage-stamp tables, he had +looked up to give his order, she had looked down impersonally, and +then there was a scream. + +It took a moment to realize that the waitress was screaming at him, +and by that time there were shouts from the surrounding tables as +well, and men and women alike were stumbling all over themselves to +get away from Charles. + +In no time at all, there was a first-rate riot in progress, then the +lights went out, and Charles had brains enough to fight his way to an +exit and slip into the dark alley outside. + +And then Charles inspected himself and realized the horrible truth. + + * * * * * + +The key concept to Charles' society was expressed in the word +_Standardization_. Standardization had had its beginning in the early +Industrial Revolution, when men first discovered that it was far more +efficient to make a thousand pieces of furniture if you made them all +exactly alike. + +And since efficiency means economic predictability, and since +predictability means stability, Standardization quickly became the +watchword in the world's new industrial economy. + +So, in time, virtually every product manufactured was standardized. +From the smallest bolts and screws in a wristwatch, through automobile +license plates, to clothing styles; everything manufactured was +strictly standard equipment. + +Of course, the only unpredictable factor in this structure was the +human element, therefore the logical answer was a standardized +consumer. + +The trend had started, undoubtedly, in Hollywood. The Art of +Cinematography had not existed long before becoming the Motion Picture +Industry. And, naturally, an industry must be efficient. + +The Hollywood tycoons had decided that the best way to reduce the +margin of risk on any new movie star was to create an arbitrary +criterion, and to require the potential star to measure up to that +standard. + +Charles was absently aware that the female standard of beauty had been +exemplified by a woman named Marilyn, and that the masculine standard +had been represented in someone named Marlon. + +So, gradually, all of the new female stars that were selected by +Hollywood resembled Marilyn as much as possible, and male leads were +selected to look like Marlon. If anyone had a nose that wasn't quite +right, or large ears, a little plastic surgery quickly remedied the +problem, and if a female starlet happened to have brown hair, peroxide +was always handy. + +And in time, it became increasingly difficult to tell one movie star +from another. + +Then the standard, idealized faces and their standards, idealized +personal mannerisms became socially fashionable, and with modern +cosmetics and readily available plastic surgery, the fashionable men +and women in society began to imitate the ideal. + +It became not only fashionable to wear the Standard face, but indecent +_not_ to do so. Social conformity was encouraged as much as possible, +and the end result was the closest thing to a Standardized, +predictable consumer as there ever could be. + +This might have produced difficult problems, because with all women +and all men wearing identical clothing and identical faces, it might +have become impossible to tell one person from another, which was not +desirable even in a Standardized world. + +Along with the Standard face had come name tags by which a person +might individualize himself to the minimum necessary degree. + +These name tags were worn about the neck on a colorful plastic band, +with the tag itself, a white plastic card, on the right side of the +neck. On the tag, in gold lettering, was the person's name, address, +and Social Security number. + +And--they were worn _all_ the time. + +The name tag was the only means by which a person might be identified. +Without it, anyone might impersonate anyone else he pleased. So, of +course, it became obscene to appear in public without one. + +And Charles, standing in the alley, looked down at himself and +realized the horrible truth. + + * * * * * + +He found himself running through back streets, sidling around corners, +and darting into doorways. + +After an hour or two, he realized that he was no longer within the +City Limits. + +Charles took a good look around him and discovered he was standing on +a minor highway just outside of town. There were no cars or people in +sight, and he dropped off the road into some bushes to get his wind +and think. + +He had _known_ there was something wrong with the molecular structure +of the suit he was wearing, but Edwin wouldn't listen. + +It had undoubtedly been the humidity. The chemical process had no +doubt been going on since he'd first donned the suit, but it had been +the heat in that beer joint that had accelerated the action enough to +finish the job. Human perspiration acting on the new fiber in the +collar of his suit produced some obscure chemical reaction which had a +corrosive effect on the plastic band and plastic card of his name tag. + +He had to get home, somehow, and tell Edwin to hold up production on +the new thermostatic suit. Perhaps the flaw in it could be eliminated +in a short time. If it couldn't.... + +He considered. The world Dollar Standard had been absolutely stable +for more years than he knew about. What would happen if it suddenly +became unstable? A fluctuation of even a fraction of a cent would +cause widespread panic; it would jolt the Public's faith in its +infallible economic system. And the panic would cause further +deviation in the Dollar's purchasing power, and--more panic. + +He wiped his brow. If the situation in the Textile Industry was as +critical as Edwin said it was, then Edwin and his superiors weren't +going to be at all happy when Charles told them about the suit--and +Charles was going to be the fall guy. + +But of course he had to get back and tell them. Because Edwin was all +set to start production on the all-weather suit immediately, and if he +actually went through with that and got a few million of them onto +consumer's backs, the result would be not panic, but disaster. + +And Charles' present problem was how to get home without being +arrested. + + * * * * * + +It was then that one individual got an extremely tough break, and +Charles got his first lucky one. + +A turbocar came barreling down the highway and, without warning struck +an embankment. The driver was thrown fifty feet from the wreckage. + +Under different circumstances, he would never have considered doing +what he did then. The penalty for wearing another person's name tag +was severe. But Charles was under an extreme emotional strain; and +without even thinking, he bent over the limp grey form of the other +marlon and removed his tag. + +He straightened, then, clutching the plastic band and looking around +at the smoking wreck. Already, he could hear a siren somewhere in the +night. + +He slipped the name tag over his head and struck out through the +bushes toward the city. + +His plan was simple; he had another name tag in his apartment for +emergency purposes, and if Ingrid was in bed he'd have no trouble +getting it, destroying the one he was wearing now, and putting on his +other suit. + +Briefly, he wondered what the police would think of finding a body +near a smashed car with no name tag. They'd probably decide it was the +same person that had caused the disturbance at the night club earlier +in the evening. + +Charles realized that the lettering on the car had indicated it was a +public, coin-operated vehicle, so the authorities would have no means +of identifying the body. + +After awhile it occurred to him that if he should go into hiding +someplace, the body might easily be identified as his own, and he +wouldn't have to worry about what Edwin and the other bosses would do +to him. It probably wouldn't be noticed that the torn and +blood-spattered clothes on the corpse were not thermostatic. But he +shook his head resolutely. Even if he were crazy enough to try it, the +body would be reported missing by somebody or other, so that would +never do. + +Eventually, Charles reached a main thoroughfare in the city and hailed +a cab. He climbed in the back, told the driver briefly to take him +home, and then slumped down in the seat and brooded. + +He stared out the window, watching the buildings go by, and the +emotional reaction of the evening began to set in. Morbidly, Charles +wondered what they'd do to him if he kept his mouth shut and let the +Industry put the suit into production, and waited for the millions of +ID tags to begin to drop off. + +The prospect was so frightening that his apprehension over what would +happen if it was discovered he was wearing somebody else's tag almost +disappeared. + +Finally, the cab rolled to a stop. Charles got out and dropped some +coins into the hand protruding from the front seat, and, head low, he +turned and entered the apartment house. + +He trudged dismally up the stairs, thinking about his wife. He +wondered what would happen if she were awake and waiting for him. If +she saw that he had on somebody else's name tag. + +The door was unlocked. + +And the light was on. + +He wondered if he could duck into the bedroom without being seen, and +then someone leaped at him and he knew it was too late. + +"Oh, James dear!" she cried, throwing her arms around Charles' neck. +"When you walked out of here, I thought you'd never come back to me!" + +Charles looked at the marilyn's name tag with slow horror and realized +that in his preoccupation, out of sheer force of habit, he had simply +said to the cab driver, "Take me home," and the driver had looked at +the address on his tag and complied. The apartment building so much +resembled Charles' own that he hadn't known the difference, and he +hadn't bothered to look at the number on the door. + +When Charles walked in, this Marilyn, Stasia her name was, had looked +at his name tag and thought he was her James. She didn't have the +slightest idea of who he really was. + +Then Charles closed his eyes, swallowed, and knew something else. + +It really didn't make the least bit of difference _who_ he was. And of +course, the solution to all his troubles was obvious. + +With a sigh, Charles leaned over Stasia and kissed her. + + + END + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Standardized Man, by Stephen Bartholomew + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STANDARDIZED MAN *** + +***** This file should be named 32658.txt or 32658.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/6/5/32658/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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