Image : Dawn Miller
Every direction
PASSENGERS go
moves the economy
FORWARD
As EconiSlogans went, it was more subtle than
EAT MORE MEAT
and
BUY MORE, SAVE JOBS
the ones Dale remembered from his childhood.
He and the kids from the block had taken up those Slogs, as people jokingly called them, acting out the screen ads that went with the campaign. They’d ape the gravel drive voice of the man in the ad, puffing their chests in a pantomime of his boxy frame, pulling their brows down so low they went cross-eyed.
The joke was, no one in the neighbourhood had money to buy meat – their parents had already lost their jobs.
Now the man from the ad was President – he was paler now, less boxy – and Dale had a job picking litter in the airport lounge. On a good day he’d find a half-smoked cigarette and savour it over his MacCheese dinner.
Written for Priceless Joy’s Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers. See the pic and pic a tale. See here to join in and to read the other stories.
Word Shamble 
Well, on the upside, at least he has a job that can have good days!
LikeLike
So sad they were in such a dire situation! So sad that he had to find used cigarettes to smoke. Great story, Lynn!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Joy. I see it a lot, people scuffling round bins for part smoked cigarettes. Cigarettes are very expensive here … Thanks for reading 🙂
LikeLike
So sad! Cigarettes are very expensive here too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Our government put a lot of tax on them in an attempt to curb our smoking – earns them good money too! Thanks Joy
LikeLike
Yes, they did the same thing here, raised the taxes on them. I don’t know how people can still afford to smoke.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Me neither. Which I guess was the government’s point 🙂 Now they just have to do the same to unhealthy food and we’ll be laughing 🙂
LikeLike
They are getting ready to raise the taxes on sugary drinks. I doubt it will be long that unhealthy foods will be right behind it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Same here. But then, cases of diabetes are almost destroying our national health service, so something has to be doen before we break it entirely. A shame we can’t police ourselves and need the government to do it for us.
LikeLike
I personally think it is wrong for the government to “police” sugary drinks, ect.
LikeLike
I know what you mean and all it might do it earn money for the government while we become more and more unhealthy. Something has to be done to change our ways – diabetes has become an epidemic here and hurts so many people
LikeLike
Yes, that is true!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The falling economy has dealt many a cruel blow. And subsisting on half smoked cigarettes is but a sad by product of that reality. Very well written, Lynn. .
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you Neel. And thanks so much for reading 🙂
LikeLike
Not so unbelievable that an additional actor could become president of a country. The cigarette is half used or half left to smoke – a new take on the pessimist/optimist saying!
LikeLiked by 2 people
*advert actor
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha! Thanks Iain 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Is Slogs your own coinage? If so, brilliant, one of a kind with Air Guitar and Lip Sync battles! Otherwise a bleak post, in keeping with the times, and a bit reminiscent of the world of Nineteen Eight-Four — into which we seem to have been stumbling without realising it for the past few years and which no longer seems like an impossibility.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Very true, Chris, sadly. Amazing what restrictions and the level of observation a state can introduce when the populace is scared enough – all for our own safety, of course. Yes, I made Slogs up – made myself smile too, which is probably a tad sad 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
I liked the “Slogs” too and agree, the story does have a very 1984 feel to it! Scary because it could too easily become true.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We’re not that far away, really. A widespread famine or two, the further computerisation of jobs, further change in global temperatures, a celebrity in the White House … Thanks Joy 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I continue to hope that reason will prevail.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Me too, Joy. Hope springs eternal. And if not, scientists discovered seven earth like planets and a nearby solar system – so we can always move!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Always happy to be optimistic, and it’s an exciting discovery! But depending on how much like Earth they are, they may not be any better for us than the Earth-like planet we’re turning this one into.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very true. We just have to learn to be better at caretaking, that’s the problem
LikeLiked by 1 person
You said a lot with this, Lynn, well done. Took me a second read to connect the opening text with the sign in the picture because I am dense and didn’t pick up on it at first glance, but that’s a great jumping off point for this super-short story, and the last paragraph is the best, spins it off into the unknown and makes it relevant (unfortunately) at the same time. And ‘slogs’, that rings true, not cheesy (which is always the risk). Good work!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah agreed. But you have to tell me, as a Brit, what SLAGS means. I could look it up of course, but more fun to hear it from you. (Context is a song by The Fall, Slags [Slates and Tapes]…male slates, etc.) I think SLAG sounds bad, like demeaning female. Slogs sounds ominous too. Hard to imagine a time one couldn’t buy meat, that’s how removed I feel now, in this suburban (air quote) paradise.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Bill. Meat’s been a luxury in the past – perhaps it will be again as the population continues to expand. ‘Slag’ is definitely a derogatory name for a woman. Basically someone who sleeps around, someone easy, though not for money. You do not want a reputation as a slag, trust me. 🙂 Funny, though how this is often applied to girls who have fewer partners than their male counterparts – but then blokes have always been allowed to be freer with these their favours than we are.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Walt! Yes, being nosy, I zoomed in to try to read what the poster said and felt it had a Big Brother tone to it. I liked the idea of Slogs, the kind of thing that might ne invented organically. Might extend this for a flash comp coming up. Thanks for reading
LikeLike
Loved this story as it is the reality projected rightly.. At least he has a job to look forward for. I met a girl in Copenhagen few years back who had a similar state of life – she used to scramble the bins outside food marts for thrown veggies and fruits to be taken home every few days. She says, the things they throw is useful for me, morever it is not wasted completely… This reminded me of her though… Good one…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Some people do live at subsistence level, barely scraping by. Still a tragedy that – here at least – a lot of food is wasted instead of being sold cheap or given away. Thanks veyr much for reading and your lovely comment
LikeLiked by 1 person
a sad tale …shows the importance of money
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sadly, yes. It shouldn’t be the focus of our lives but it certainly makes life easier
LikeLike
Interesting way to spend an evening, the mac and cheese sounds better than the smoke to me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m with you on that score! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person