How Many Minutes Can You Spare?
Transactions of a different nature.
Abi frowned at the cash register. A $100 bill lay there, and she could just make out two red lines partially hidden under the weight arm holding the notes down. She pulled it out of the till for a closer look. It was a stamped speech bubble. Ben Franklin said to her, “Money is time.”
She was sure Franklin was misquoting himself. Nevertheless, she pulled her phone out to confirm it, simultaneously using her other hand to shove the bill back into the register. As she snapped the weight arm back into place, she noticed that the speech bubble outline actually comprised much smaller letters. She removed the bill again, squinting at the repeating words:
Spend your free time with us — HundredForHundred.com — We always make time for you
Curious, she typed that web address into her phone instead and was greeted by a block of text and a grayed-out “Accept” button. She quickly scrolled down until she could click to accept. Then, two brightly-colored buttons popped into view.
Buying?
or
Selling?
She clicked to sell; she wasn’t about to hand over her hard-earned wages for… she did not know what.
How much time do you have for us? ____ (minutes)
Huh? She typed in “5.”
Please enter desired date:
She entered today’s date.
An hourglass popped up on her screen, immediately replaced by the next message:
5 minutes deducted, thank you. Would you like:
Store credit? (Not exchangeable for monetary funds.)
or
Funds? (Credit card information required for funds deposit.)
Abi wasn’t sure what she had just done, but there was no way she was going to give them her credit card information now, she thought incredulously. She chose store credit, and a QR code popped up.
You have 5 seconds store credit. Please use the displayed code to redeem. Credits expire in 30 days.
Abi took a screenshot of the QR code, though she was still very confused. Well, that was 5 wasted minutes, she thought, as she returned the $100 bill to the cash register for the last time and slammed it shut.
Abi checked her phone. Time to leave, finally. She removed her mini apron, leaving it on the counter. She waved goodbye to the manager and headed out to her car, parked behind the store.
Her car coughed before coming to life. It was an old Toyota, and she forgave many of its weaknesses. Still, the gas gauge should really be at “F,” not anxiously hovering around “E.” She had taken an extra five minutes this morning to get gas before work.
At least, she vaguely remembered getting gas. Frowning, she turned off the engine, pulling out her phone to check her credit card transactions. If her gas gauge was actually accurate, she wouldn’t have enough to get home.
The hundredforhundred.com QR code web page popped up when she unlocked her phone. A banner floated across her screen:
Thank you for 5 minutes of your time today! We look forward to seeing you again!
500 words, excluding title, subtitle, figure captions, and post-story content.
