Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Gregricksburgh

It had been a few weeks since the city had been plagued by any of those individuals. You know, unhip people. Folks who wouldn’t learn what was in and what was out. The last time anybody like that had lived here they had been scared out by the extreme ostracism the townies had shown. If you didn’t get with the times, no one would speak a word to you.
At least the social climate was better than it was in the 60s. Back then in Gregricksburgh, the Un-Participants (as they had come to be called) were forced into tiny ghettos where they couldn’t get any work. They couldn’t even work as house help for the wealthy and popular elite because they didn’t have the correct French Maid costumes; they couldn’t get into the clothing stores because they weren’t dressed appropriately. An Un-Participant would have been most lucky to scrounge up money for a bus ticket out back then.
Now things were better. The Un-Participants trying to come into Gregricksburgh were merely chased out. Mostly they didn’t want to come anyway; why would anyone like them want to? Besides that, there were screenings at the age of sixteen for all children of residents, if they wanted to stay. If you decided not to take the test, or failed, you could be sent out. Sixteen seemed to be a good age—kids were just starting to catch on. The quick-witted ones, anyway. The rest wouldn’t be happy in Gregricksburgh, at any rate.
The streets were currently painted pink and orange, as of five years ago. The constant changes created many local jobs and kept the city fresh and clean. Residents were supposed to wear colors contrasting either pink or orange (or both, optimally) and so downtown and surrounding areas were alive with vibrant colors. All restaurants were required certain menu items and disallowed others. And clothing stores were heavily scrutinized by the Listmakers, of course. Currently, coffeeshops were run by the local government and were on every other street corner, so citizens could enjoy the best drinks at the right times. Before bands could begin having shows or even practicing audibly they had to have an audition in front of the Listmakers.
The last Un-Participants to show up, as has already had been stated, were chased out. Before they were, however, they made quite a mess. They had been disturbing the peace by playing their strange music (loudly) wearing ugly clothing and having unauthorized kinds of pets. Gregricksburgh wouldn’t stand for such ridiculous displays of individualism, especially when it was done in the most incorrect way. Gregricksburgh was too fine of a town for that. Too polished, too perfect. Nothing would tarnish its glamorous reputation as the Most Tight-Knit, Most Perfect City.

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