Office Larry

Larry lived for his job, it defined him as a person and kept him occupied. You see, when he wasn't at work, Larry would often find himself bored. When he wasn't occupied with watching television, playing computer games, or going clubbing with his friends, he really had no idea what to do with his spare time.

He was neither an antisocial character nor an unfriendly guy, infact he had a reasonably sized circle of friends. Whenever he met up with his friends, who had little interests outside of work, they complained about their small paychecks and backstabbed each other.

Larry was more like his mother rather than his father. She was a housewife who had little ambition in her life but to marry a rich man who happened to be Larry's father. She would spend her day making visits to her friends, similar housewives, in her suburban neighbourhood and gossip about the people in her life.

Larry and his friends, if you were to meet them in their regular haunts such as expensive trendy bars and nightclubs, would most likely comment on your clothing first and foremost. They're fashionably attired people and they're also very observant about modes of dress, they'll selflessly offer a compliment or insult to your clothing.

He lived in Zisney, a country on a large continent on a planet which supports an interesting array of wildlife and landscapes. The government of Zisney oneday realized that most of it's inhabitants were like Larry. They invested a huge sum of tax payers money to fund scientists to study people like Larry. They discovered that the particular psychological makeup of these subjects inclined them to homicidal behaviour when they weren't given sufficient attention or structure in their lives.

As a result of the investigations, the government decided to turn large areas of the country into a themepark. The 'Larries' as the scientists termed them, would have their minds constantly stimulated by fun distractions to stop them from turning into psychopathic killers. Naturally, the Larries loved it! They found themselves drawn to these entertainment districts where they could watch loud explosions and people having sex on big screens; that's what Larries love, mindless sex and violence, anything else would be too taxing on their minds; not to say that they are stupid, far be it, they just choose to be that way.

I forgot to mention the other group of people, the 'Leonardos'. They were a group who did not need to be bombarded with distractions, they were a minority who had the ability to find their own ways to occupy their time, and they did it well. The Larries didn't like the Leonardos because of this fact, they thought the Leonardos strange and unusual because they didn't like the things they did which they thought that everyone should like. Ironically, most of the Leonardos work in jobs which produce things to the tastes of the Larries in order to keep them subdued and happy.

Leonardos had lives outside of their jobs, they enjoy the countryside, learning about nature and the world in general. To them, jobs were jobs, they kept their non-working life separate so they could use that time to develop themselves as creative individuals. They were easy going people, content with their lives and did not usually complain; though not completely passive, they were concerned with the infringement of their happiness by the needs of the Larries.

The themepark which was designed by the Leonardos for the Larries had one major setback, it consumed alot of natural resources, polluted the environment, and ate up the countryside with it's increasing expansion. The themepark was constantly growing in order to support the needs of the Larries whose numbers were also expanding, yet if it stopped growing there would be outrage and disorder leading to the instability of a society which had lived in symbiotic harmony for millenia.

The Leonardos were also concerned with the type of world that they were creating. Some believed that they should be trying to educate the Larries while others argued that conversion would be futile and that acceptance would be a better solution. Meanwhile, the Larries, quite oblivious to these debates, lived in a paradise that provided them a structure to prevent them from becoming extremely bored.

The biggest irony was that the Leonardos were governing the society. They wanted what was best for everyone, yet the dilemma was that they could only achieve happiness through the happiness of others. The Leonardos governed the society because they produced inventive solutions yet they did not rule it; the Larries ran the show and they were fully aware of it.