A Long Life

I spent some time at the history library yesterday, reading what things were like long before science came up with a way to keep us alive forever.

Forever.

I was born in 2753 and look pretty good for being 247. My wife is 245. But, according to what I read, raising kids, working, wars, illnesses, and the government was a mess back then, but the one thing I found amusing, or perhaps interesting; the kids. When they grew up, they left home and made their own life. I found that rather intriguing. Since here, it doesn’t matter how old they get, they stay home, even after they get married. And thinking on that, I smile wryly and wish they would leave home. It would allow my wife and I some added privacy, something we don’t get very much of, since we have 3 sons and 2 daughters, add in three wives, two husbands and 14 more kids and you get the picture. Oh, and my wife’s and I, parents, and the parents who are now my in-laws. This is determined by range of income and year of birth. And since my wife and I are technically the oldest, and we bring in the most money, they all stay here. It’s like living with a village of idiots at times.

But there’s another reason for this. Since no one dies any longer, the population has quadrupled alone in the last seventy-five years. If I remember right, there is something like 800 billion people on the planet. Can we say sardines?

We all work, that is if you think getting on your video-wrist compact computer and saying two words, “Good Morning” is work. Honestly, that’s all we have to do to let the government know that we haven’t moved, haven’t taken on any unnecessary risks, fled to another country. And we get paid for it! Pretty simple way of doing things. Two words, seven times a day for $5,000 a week, and no taxes!

The wars ended about fifty years before I was born, and a worldwide pact was agreed to. Which, according to history, makes this the longest ever stretch of no one having to die defending others right to freedom.

Crime is at a dead end when I turned ten due in part to medical science creating a brain chip placed inside everyone’s head that does not allow the thinking process to commit any crime, large or small.

But I still like the idea of telling the kids to find their own place. Hold on a second, my wife has to tell me something.

Pause

Okay, just found out we’ll have two new additions to the household before too long. And I mean, soon. See, that’s another thing modern medical science has done. Accelerated the pregnancy from 9 to 3 months.

The more I think about living for forever, the more I’m thinking dying would be a better option.

Maybe I’ll just leave. Grab the wife and find a Motel 6 that has no kids and I won’t leave the light on either.