Chapter 3: Class

Class droned on all morning, with Mrs. Rothstein having them recite from their textbooks the chapter on the turn of the century and its technological significance. There was little opportunity for classes structured any way other than lecture style, and John struggled to read his handwriting from the spiral bound notebook he wrote in. All John wanted was to be able to read about it online, but the textbooks were cheaper to use. He daydreamed about ordering an iced coffee and sitting at the consoles playing Call of Duty with his friends. It had gotten so much better in the past ten years.

Finally the bell rang, and John met up with Rob, Isaac and Peter. Their pockets jingled with coins ready for the machines at the counter. They half skipped in order to get there before the other school kids got out, to make sure they had prime access to the games they wanted.

When they got to the cafe, the line was only about 10 people in the line. Rob and John scanned the crowd, and the open machines making sure they’d get the one they wanted. At the counter, the four boys traded in their coins for a ticket stamped with a timecode, and temporary login. Only 40 minutes this time instead of an hour. John slid the ticket into the box underneath the huge screen, and using the photo taken by the man from the counter, stood in front of the screen so his face was recognized and correlated with the stamped card. It worked.

The game powered up and for the next 40 minutes, the boys truly felt like they were free, able to do whatever they wanted. Not a minute was wasted, as the screen came alive, unlocking the multiplayer world of players. It was a level of access that was unparalleled, a feeling of power incomparable to anything else. John relished this time each week because it allowed him to feel free.

When John got home that night, his mom had left dinner on the counter, and was off in her office working. The ambient light from the news flickered and flashed across the screen. John turned around to watch as he took the first few bites of his pasta. The headline danced across the screen, “Lawmakers take first step towards equitable internet access”. John looked back down at his dinner. Maybe this was the beginning of a movement; of change.