A Mentally Balanced Society

Georgia looked down at her silver heart-shaped locket. In it was a picture of her mother. She had dark hair and wore red and purple. A color combination that had been forbidden for as long as Georgia could remember. She hid her locket and turned her attention to her closet. There was not much in it. She was a design student so this month she was scheduled to wear blue and white. In her closet was one special item. She was graduating this week. Her special colors were yellow and tan. The outfit had been chosen for her. It had arrived the other day. Her new job had been preselected as well. Her new job would be in this department. She would assign the colors for the ease and betterment of her fellow citizens. Her society's main goal was to look after the mental well-being of its citizens. They eliminated all self -determination and free choice. They had no jails, no crime, no hate speech, and no mental hospitals. People did not have the ability or need to make a bad decision.

The weather was cool so she picked the most lightweight outfit. She combed her hair. She glanced in the mirror. Not much to see. The same as every day. One of the thrills of graduation would be getting her hair done. Nothing extreme of course. But today it was just straight to the shoulders norm.

At school, she watched a film about her new job. It was nothing she really needed education for, but the classes prepared her for the structured day of work. It was well known that a structured day leads to a more stable society. One thing she did learn today was that she would be getting a wage. She would be able to purchase furniture for her apartment. After it had been approved of course. Only certain items were allowed. She had earned a monitored self-choice. They gave her a new catalog of the store's selections and several sheets of paper to hand in to get her selections approved. The catalog was interesting but not much different than what she had now. She wondered about groceries. They would be waiting for her when she got home. Would she be able to spend her salary on those as well? Currently, she just got the student selection. It was a mandatory selection.

When she got home she pulled out the catalog. She was wondering if they had a gas stove. They did, Georgia wondered if it would get approved. Her mother mentioned one in the journal she had left Georgia. Like the locket, it was hidden away.

The next day at school was uneventful. They walked through the graduation. Who would stand next to who? When they should sit and stand. There was no party. No celebration. Maybe that would happen tomorrow. They did get excused early. She rushed home. She had gotten a Graduation surprise in her grocery basket. They had sent her precooked shrimp scampi. All she had to do was heat it up. They had also sent her fudge brownies and gelato. She sat down to eat her meal and turned on the tv. They had changed her selections. One day before graduation she was now legally a working girl. They had a video on groceries. Since she was working she was now allowed to buy these premade dinners. She was allowed a few more selections. She was allowed to bring her lunch to work. She smiled, this was a good change. She wondered if she got promoted if she would get more freedom. How would what she eat affect the stability of society? Why fight it.

The next morning she was awakened by a knock on her door. There stood her beauty makeover. It was cost-free. It was a benefit for her contribution to society. She had a choice of three styles. They had pictures of how she would look with each haircut and styling. It was an easy choice, she had her hair trimmed and flat ironed. They also helped her arrange her dress. She no longer looked bland. She looked pretty. But she had no idea how the dating thing worked. She actually took time looking in her mirror. After she was beautified, the stylist gave her a ride to her graduation. After giving her a free curling iron. Georgia smiled. She was glad that her haircut had been approved.

There was no party after the graduation. Just a pep talk, and a card telling them where they were to report to work on Monday. She was amazed at how alive all her fellow students looked. Some of the young men actually looked interesting. They appeared to have their own personality. When she arrived home her work clothes had arrived. The style matched her haircut.

She got a ride to work. It was a service provided by society. This way nobody was ten minutes late. Her Boss was Jane. Georgia's work was sitting in a pile on her desk. It was her job to assign the color combinations that would be allowed for the month. She had a list of color combinations that could be selected. There was one box for other, but her forms had to be approved by Jane. The job went on, as usual, the same routine daily. Then about three weeks into her job Jane did not come in. Georgia was asked to fill in for her. She had to take the forms and enter them into the computer. Georgia noticed that the computer program had colors listed that weren't on her forms. She continued doing it the way she had been taught. Then one day she decided to try something different. She entered a non-traditional color combination for the women design students. She chose pink and purple for the women design students. She also changed the style of the shirts. She decided to shift away from the button-down shirt. Everyone else had the traditional uniforms. She wondered who was overseeing Jane. But as the week progressed she heard nothing from the seamstress department about the unorthodox color combination.

The first day that the outfits should have been worn she went by the school. All the women were wearing pink and purple. No one had overridden her. They had done exactly what she had ordered. She had sent them three different styles of pink shirts, so not everybody looked the same. She went into the lady's room and found a mob of students looking at themselves in the mirror. They were no longer clones They had been allowed to actually design.

Georgia nervously returned back to work. She signed onto the computer. To her surprise, she found no reprimand but in fact they had added pink and purple to the approved color list. She took this as an okay to vary the colors and styles for everybody across society. She was having a blast. but inwardly she hoped she would lose her job, and the citizens would have complete control over their attire. She knew it would be just a start. People need freedom of choice and personal determination.