Francine wakes up later than usual, sleeping in until almost noon. The house is quiet, and so is the street. She trudges to the bathroom to take a shower. While washing, she tries to figure out where all the usual noise went. "What's missing?" she asks herself.
After toweling off and getting dressed, Francine heads downstairs to find Donald in the living room reading an Astronaut Urine Gorilla comic book. "Morning, Donald!"
Donald lowers his comic, and says, "Good morning, Francine!"
"Say, Donald, does it seem oddly quiet today? Like, more so than usual?"
Donald smiles, "Yes, I believe that would be the result of the children of the house across the street not running around screaming in the middle of the street for once, nor their parents engaging in a bit of domestic violence and the police having to show up."
"That's it! That's why it's so quiet! I've gotten so used to the kids always screaming while they're playing outside that I'm not used to not hearing it. What happened? Why are they so quiet? Did they move out?"
"No, we are not so fortunate, I am sorry to say. But, earlier this week, a bunch of equipment, including closed circuit television cameras, was moved into the house by city workers. You were probably at the convention then, but I was home and saw it. I think our neighbors are part of that pilot F.U.N. project the city is trying out."
"F.U.N.?"
"Yes, I believe that it stands for Family Ultimatum Normalization."
"Family Ultimatum Normalization? What the hell's that?"
"I am surprised you do not know about it. It sounds like something that you would be quite interested in. I read about it in that monthly newsletter the city always leaves on the garbage can when they pick up the garbage."
"'The Trash Times'? I usually just throw it in the recycling bin, assuming it only tells us about what a great job the mayor and city council are doing, another example of how incumbents can campaign on public funds. But I'll have to start reading it, I suppose. So what is this F.U.N. thing?"
"It is apparently an intervention project aimed at families who have engaged in antisocial behavior."
"What, like not shoveling the sidewalk after a snowstorm?"
"Hmm . . . I would say that is antisocial, but I think the city has more in mind people like our neighbors who assault one another, and cost the city money when the police have to respond to the situation. Rather than send the parents to jail and the children to foster homes, what the city does is give the family one last chance to stay together by having them placed under 24-hour closed circuit television monitoring to make sure that the children are being treated well, and that the family is engaged in productive behavior. The family is basically under house arrest except for work, school, and necessary errands, most of which are done under the supervision of a social worker."
"What? That's ridiculous! I mean our neighbors are pretty annoying, but that sounds like something straight out of 1984! How can the city legally get away with that without some court declaring it unconstitutional?"
"Apparently, it is voluntary, but there is some coercion involved. The family across the street must be receiving some government funding, perhaps food stamps. If a family targeted for F.U.N. doesn't participate, then they lose that funding. I suspect that is why our neighbors are now enrolled in the program. It apparently is a federally-funded program, but administered by various state and local governments."
"Hmmpph! That's about par for the course for civil liberties in this country."
"But Francine, were you not the one who told me that people who receive welfare should only get it if they get sterilized to make sure that they do not have any children that they cannot afford to take care of?"
"Yes," Francine says, "But this seems different. Doesn't it seem creepy that somebody in the government is watching this family all day long?"
"Yes, it does," Donald says, "But my outrage is nullified by my relief that I do not have to listen to them anymore."
Blog Love Omega Glee is a novel by Wred Fright about two bloggers who fall in love while the world falls apart, which is being serialized on his blog. To start reading from the beginning or read another installment, please visit Blog Love Omega Glee Central on WredFright.Com. If you like what you've read, or you've read all of Blog Love Omega Glee and want more Fright, then please read his first novel, which is available in print and as an ebook.
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