SUDDEN FICTION - By Jane Genova
Creepy.
That's what Peter Cohen thought to himself.
There were cameras focused on him. And he was being relatively well paid to be the human camera in that home improvement store.
Had he still been employed as an associate in a mid-sized law firm, his mind might have still been in the business of conjuring up big words to sort through reality.
Redundant.
That's the term which he would have thought seven months ago when he assumed he was doing well.
After all, the store was paying him to reduce shrinkage. It didn't seem to make solid business sense to also invest in an elaborate artificial intelligence monitoring system.
But, he had been wrong before, hadn't he. What he assumed about his value to the law firm was 100 percent wrong.
So, maybe, he was wrong in this current assessment of the retailer's decision-making. With fewer folks buying houses, there would be fewer purchasing the DIY tools, the lawn sprinklers, and then powder room vanities. So, no, the store couldn't afford additional shrinkage.
Perhaps the elaborate monitoring system did make sense. However, for him, the jury was still out.
The jury came in with a verdict on his day off.
I'm the one who doesn't make solid business sense.
That's what he thought to himself. He would be made irrelevant by the artificial intelligence. Currently, he was just a back-up while any blind spots in the monitoring were being re-coded.
Again, what he had assumed had been in error.
A fresh career path in loss prevention for someone with legal credentials had seemed so smart.
No, he wasn't ashamed to be seen on the floor of the store, in his uniform.
He had been proud of his lack of ego.
Just as in the old days, or as his grandfather had described, he had been willing to start from the bottom.
His next try at a career he went about with less certitude and optimism. Since the compensation was a lot higher, he still harbored a hunch he was cunning about navigating a work world in which work was disappearing.
Every late afternoon, he explained to high school juniors how the makers of the SAT "think." He figured he was indeed doing well. His supervisor had given him an extra session on Saturday mornings.
This is solid.
That's what he told a former law student buddy who was, as the cliche goes, between jobs.
Do you want me to try to get you in?
That's what he asked. He knew and his friend knew he was showing off.
The buddy had decided to get certification in teaching English as a Second Language. He had seen all those help-wanted about free housing and decent compensation for those kinds of jobs in China. Meanwhile, he was editing scholarly papers by Chinese linguists for publication in American journals.
The buddy never alluded back to that offer when Peter found out he hadn't been selected to be an online instructor.
What was needed online to engage students was very different from what cut it in-person.
That's what they told him. If he wanted, he could keep the Saturday in-person course.
Obviously, online was where the game was going.
Peter signed up for training in instruction-delivery. Part of the package was content strategy. He learned how to plan out the short modules, sprinkle in animation, and create engrossing quizzes.
Eventually he was promoted to Content Director of an online instruction firm specializing in environmental. His department won awards.
Abovethelaw interviewed him about his successful career transition. The editor at Entrepreneur demanded that when the firm was profiled, Peter would do a podcast. The firm scaled. The menu included courses in law for businesspeople and how to handle your own custody battle.
The stock price kept increasing after the IPO. Peter cashed out.
Entrepreneur asked him why.
It's work that is increasingly irrelevant.
That's what he went on the record as saying. He had regained his sense of self enough to pontificate.
Human beings can be relevant without work.
That's how he wrapped up the interview.
His network is monitoring the situation. Will Peter really be able to go on with his life without work? They are approaching that as a question. Surprisingly, they don't have the answer all lined up. It is possible that work is becoming increasingly irrelevant.
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