Ak opens the door and exits the large rustically finished meeting room. The meeting just finished is one he has been sent to by the ruling council of the planet Ork. He is an alien agent sent to organize a social experiment to see if Earth people are really happy in their current state of development. Ak has been chosen for this job because he is a descendent of the founders of a theme park in the dim past that was named Akzarbyn. This is where Ak got his name. Akzarbyn Myopian Geazanslaw. The people of Earth were really enthusiastic about this entertainment center after it was built, right after the “War To End All Wars”. Not so much when it was in the planning stage. This was why Ak was sent to speed up the build process. Ak’s people being far advanced to Earth people had planted proper credentials in the needed places to establish him as an authority in building theme parks.
Before we go any further, some history of the planet Ork may be in order. Ork is the biggest planet yet discovered by Earth people. It is also the farthest one away. It can not be seen by anything but the Hubble telescope it is so far away. It appears to be divided into many different zones or areas. It has been estimated to be at least a million times bigger than Jupiter in our galaxy. Aside from spectral analysis of the atmosphere, nothing is known of the planet by Earth people. We, of the inner circle of V&S however, will be privileged to learn much of this World. It was created by the same method as Earth, ( pick the method you prefer) at the same time as Earth. It has been the repository of certain Earthlings that have used up their time on earth. These certain Earthlings all have one thing in common. They wore glasses on earth. When their time is up they are transported instantaneously by time domain dissolution to Ork to live out eternity. They have the choice, after arriving, to select any time period of their life that they want to live in. They can change this as they want at any time. Now here is where the basis of this story comes in. The largest living area on the planet Ork is the one dedicated to the 20’s to the 50’s. It is 60% larger that any other. It has been determined that the reason for this is that life was much much slower and pleasant in this time frame. It was a time of scientific development, industrial revolution and medical discovery. Even so, the recreational time was much slower in pace and much more enjoyed. People that came up through this time almost always choose to live in this area. Many people from other time frames, that come to the area just to see what it was like, end up staying for eternity. (The object of Ak’s mission, to find out ,why) The only requirement for staying is you must have to have at least tried on or worn glasses at some time in your Earth stay. It is your choice whether you want to wear them on Ork. And, yes, to answer the usual question of, “Was Mork really from Ork?”. Yes, he was and is. He has a daily comedy show at one of the big theaters in downtown Orkville.
Now, back to the new Akzarbyn theme park. The Ork people behind the promotion of this park have determined that it should have an almost subliminal promotion of wearing glasses. This will be achieved by scientific methods that Earthlings will not be privileged to understand. As you stand at the front gate entrance and look through the fence, all will appear normal. You will see all of the usual things a theme park has like rides, exhibits and food courts. As soon as you buy a ticket and enter, everything will appear slightly fuzzy, like you have suddenly become nearsighted. A sign will be there to say, “If you have glasses, put them on at this time”. It will also say, “If you need glasses stop at the next booth”. At this booth, they will give you a fashionable frame with your proper prescription installed. No waiting. (We are not to know how this is done) After this, everything will be crystal clear as long as they are in the park. When they leave the Park with the Park glasses, they will revert to plano lenses. However, the desire to wear thick glasses will stay with them forever.
Still in the planning stage is a building to house a resident ophthalmologist just outside the front gate with appropriate advertising to attract people that had problems seeing inside the Park. At that first organizational meeting, Ak was told that the funding for the project had come from an anonymous donor that wanted a certain type of theme park built and money was NO object. Of course he knew the money had come from Ork, although Ork used no money.. It was an easy task for them to just install the money in the Earth system without disrupting anything.
The plans for the park were approved eventually after a few hours of discussion. The land was acquired and the park built in record time due to secret procedures installed in the earth system and later disabled and deleted. Everyone entering the park was asked to fill out a review questionnaire and snail mail it in. This was done to weed out the modern people that did not know what snail mail was and likely would not understand the actual theme of the park. The reviews were overwhelmingly approving of the theme, wearing glasses and living in that time frame. Ak’s job was done. The project was a success and he returned to Ork for his next assignment.
If there appears to be a strange project that gets done in time not seemingly realistic, in your area, it might be a good idea to snoop into the background of it.
For the record, this short story took 3 months, a gallon of moonshine and 3 bags of psilocybin mushrooms to write.
https://vision-and-spex.com/resurrection-of-a-better-lifestyle-t969.html