Looking for a short sci-fi story, read before 1978 – worker, “suggestion” terminal
Hello, I’m looking for help identifying a short science fiction story I read before 1978, probably in an Italian Urania or Cosmo Oro/Argento anthology (so it was likely translated from English).
Here’s what I remember:
- Protagonist: a worker (possibly in railways or the subway).
- His boss has access to a terminal where “suggestions” can be typed.
- The protagonist discovers that these “suggestions” are actually executed by a central system as if they were orders.
- There’s a scene where he talks to his boss about a past “suggestion” the boss made, which changed a workplace rule (something about workers having to bring their tools home at the end of the day and bring them back the next morning).
- In the end, the worker suggests the boss should be retired; the system executes it, and the worker gets his position and the terminal.
- Final ironic : he starts imagining future “suggestions” for himself — like getting a better office, maybe a fully equipped penthouse — and “who knows what else…”.
Possible authors: Robert Sheckley, Cyril M. Kornbluth, Fredric Brown, William Tenn, or similar.
If anyone knows the title, author, or original publication, I’d be very grateful!
Thanks in advance!
Here’s a vintage-style image to match the story atmosphere
Posted Aug 8, 2025, 9:07 PM UTC
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