Switch Day

A very short story by Bruce Kasanoff

On March 1, 2024 and on every tenth day since, one percent of the human race switches consciousness with a random person elsewhere on the planet... and remains in their body until the next Switch Day, when they switch back.

During those ten days—if you have switched—you live the life of the other person. If they are injured or killed, you share the same fate. Most people experience dramatic shifts in their age, gender, health, knowledge, skills and experiences. 100% forget their original identity until they return with complete recall of their ten-day Switch.

On Switch Day One, Greg, a CEO from Chicago, suddenly found himself in a crowded, squalid refugee camp in war-torn Syria. Accustomed to luxury and power, he faced the harsh realities of scarcity, danger and chaos. During his ten days, he ate three times and was injured twice.

Lena, a fashion designer in Paris renowned for her haute couture creations, became a sweatshop worker in Bangladesh. In a stifling and cramped factory, she toiled for long hours under severe conditions to produce the very garments she typically designed. On her return, she left the fashion industry.

Mark, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, became a child laborer in the dusty streets of a small mining town in Congo. For the first seven days, he mined the minerals necessary for the gadgets his company produces. On day eight, his left leg was crushed in a mine accident. Mark still lives with that injury today.

Amanda, a wealthy socialite from New York, switched with a homeless single mother in Rio de Janeiro. She slept in alleys and picked food scraps out of garbage cans.

On the other side of each switch, another human being learned firsthand that another way of living is possible. Over time, this knowledge began to erode generations worth of trauma and despair.

Some say God changed the rules to make the planet more equitable. Others think aliens intervened to stop human beings from destroying each other. However it came about, in the course of one year, Switch Day raised the level of empathy and compassion on the planet to an unprecedented level. Since that time, power and resources have shifted dramatically across our civilization.

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Hat tip to Bassam Salem, whose post earlier today on LinkedIn gave me this idea. The image is by Swapnll Dwivedi/Unsplash.

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We can all Bend Reality. (Try harder.)