Future. Perfect. Tense.

No Florence, Its Not

Her first job after graduation was basic. Keep them from killing themselves and make sure you get the shoes back.

The pay was decent.  Unionized healthcare jobs like that were hard to come by. The work itself was challenging. But by no means was it the glamour and excitement that played in old reruns of  General Hospital.  No sexy Clooney. No sardonic Dr. House. No McDreamy, McSteamy or any other fast food mancandy for that matter. Registered Nurses never really had a place on traditional TV or mid millennial streaming service, so Darby didn't give two fucks. Not seeing yourself in mainstream media had its perks. Seeing your profession proliferate as a porn topic or slutty Halloween costume was kind of a kick, too. It's not like programmers or tax consultants didn't have their own porn discourse, its just that nurses still held that pull. And rub and tug.

The Bowled Spot ran a basic setup. There was just one charge nurse per nightshift, one Industrial Nurse cyborg, and a bunch of mediocre tech to keep it all running.  Tonight it was Darby, Registered Nurse 4th Generation, and Kesha, cyborg Industrial Nurse.  IN for short. Each RN had her own IN and they worked as a pair. Darby was lucky in that Kesha received free software and hardware updates and routine malware assessments with this job. It was part of the reason she chose the job. Having your own dependable coworker, even if it was a cyborg, was invaluable. Women were bitches and working in a hospital where every day was another day of Grade 9 junior high bullshit taught Darby the definition of lateral violence.  Kesha was a graduation gift from her grandmother, 2nd generation Registered Nurse. The only stipulation was that the IN couldn't be named Julie.

Each night Darby started her shift at 1800. She did the basic rec and tech drug count. Most bowlers brought their own chemical entertainment so The Bowled Spot only kept a barebones barcart. Edibles, vapes, injectables in one fridge. Downloadables and implantables were relatively new for alley,  but sold more often due to their popularity among the young people.  These were kept in the techmidor.  Kesha checked the ambient temperature, humidity and ionic presence.

Next Darby would check the governors. These were stylized tattoos made of nanotechnology ink that would govern the inebriation level of the patrons. She ran a basic Quality Control algorithm on the tattoo guns and made sure nobody would be too wung out or too sober to enjoy themselves. Nobody wanted to be a party pooper, especially not Darby.  A keen believer in Harm Reduction Model, she really felt that losing her job would be the greater harm.

Kesha checked all the bowling shoes. These were something. John Fluevog designer bowling shoes for the discerning bowler. Cleaned, sanitized and lowjacked to prevent theft. Darby's great grandmother Naomi had a pair of these. The sale of these shoes years later paid for Darby's grandmother's university degree. Kesha always took great care to ensure the shoes came back. The lowjacking technology tied into the governor tattoo and reminded the patron to not steal the shoes. One previous bowler ignored the shoe's reminder and took them home. He was unable to get a decent buzz again in any club in the city  for months until he brought the shoes back. Kesha uploaded the necessary software update  once she had the shoes back.  Let that cowboy ride again.

Bowling was definitely different than Darby's grandmother had done.  There was still glow bowling but it was the bowlers who glowed.  There was beer,  burgers and fries.  And then there were the drugs.  The legalization of all drugs, synthetic, homegrown or cooked happened just after the breakup of the United States of America.  Since each state was now essentially its own country complete with a militia,  taxes were down and tourism was questionable. Drugs were the next best thing to the all American road trip.  Crossing all those separated borders with all their entry and exit taxes became too cumbersome and expensive.  Now tourists would pick a theme, a level of comfort with whatever regime was in place. Darby graduated in what had been the Green State, one of the first states to legalize marijuana. Now it was the tourist Mecca for free love,  sex and bowling.