Kyeo is running his hand up and down Sarham's back, as though counting scars he can't feel, and then there is something, in the room, something enormous, and he sees his own face and Sarham's mirrored in an incoming oval and then -
- they aren't sitting on Kyeo's bed in Crane Mountain any more.
"Oh, right, population density would matter a lot for you, wouldn't it - rural people on Kularan or similar planets, I'm going to call those 'developed' planets, do have a harder time getting goods shipped to them than urban people but they have faster transit, for one, and there are delivery robots, and so on - anyway, poverty is actually defined as falling below a certain income level, the 'poverty line', which is a really hacky measure - it doesn't cover, for instance, that a disabled person requiring expensive care that nobody here is ever likely to need will need more money, or that some people manage to live very poor lifestyles on a normal amount of money if they're not responsible with it for whatever reason such as addictions or abusive relatives or innumeracy; nor for that matter that some people make no money and just live off savings or something. The poverty line is adjusted based on inflation and assessments of what metaphorical basket of basic goods someone needs to be living a standard quality of life."
"It seems strange that it doesn't account for people living off savings; do you not have very many people doing that?"
"Lots of people do that but usually their savings are interest-bearing in some way and they don't touch the principal, and the interest is understood as income."
"I suppose that makes sense; we have some people doing that, but at any given time there's a substantial number of people - hm, 'vacation' and 'retirement' are both completely at the wrong scale, just on opposite sides - "
"I don't think they're more likely to be a year than any other amount of time, and sabbatical has something else about it; it sounds like it's . . . for something. And also still has wrong connotations about the timing; I think most people only have jobs - I'd have to look it up, but maybe between half and two-thirds of the time, and sabbatical sounds like less often than that. 'On leave', maybe, except for how that seems to imply that you'll be going back to the same career; lots of people don't. - Possibly just 'unemployed'? Though that one's missing concepts instead of having too many."
"Okay... sounds like sabbatical is closest, I'll keep in mind the distinctions. You probably change careers much more often here."
"Most people do. I've been at this for quite a while - unless, I suppose, switching from regular development to working with aliens counts as a career change."
"Do you have more questions about Communism that I'll want to handle more gently with my boyfriend, or -"
"Is he - alright? You said they punished people; does he have a sufficiently cooperative disposition that . . ."
"Far as I know he didn't get in trouble for being uncooperative. Just for being gay."
"He'll describe it as being in the hospital. I'd rather you didn't try to discuss it with him."
She follows him out, notes in hand, but turns the other direction down the hallway. "See you then."
View Flat HTML
View Metadata
Search Post
