Looking for a short sci-fi story, read before 1978 – worker, “suggestion” terminal

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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

https://i.imgur.com/bkUIQYz.jpeg

https://imgur.com/a/yHyR15R

Posted Aug 8, 2025, 9:07 PM UTC

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