Transcriber's Note:
This etext was produced from IF Worlds of Science FictionFebruary 1958. Extensive research did not uncover any evidencethat the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.
The dilemma of "The Man in the White Suit" was but a minorirritation compared to Charles and his "all-weather" suit!
The Standardized Man
By Stephen Bartholomew
he turbocar swiped anembankment at ninety milesan hour; the result was, of course,inevitable. It was a magnificentcrash, and the driver was thrownclear at the end of it for a distanceof 50 feet.
Charles looked at the body andgot his bright idea.
he trouble had started a coupleof weeks before, when Edwin,Charles' laboratory co-ordinator,had called him into his office justbefore Charles was due to leavefor home. It was a distinct breachof etiquette to cause a worker toarrive home at any time besides hisaccustomed hour, so Charles knewwhatever Edwin wanted must beimportant. He sat down oppositethe Co-ordinator and assumed apolitely questioning look.
"Charles, you know I wouldn'tcall you here at this hour if it wasn'timportant," Edwin said, pursinghis lips.
"Of course not, sir," Charles replied,waiting.
"The fact of the matter is, weare in dire straits." Edwin staredat the other ominously. "As youwell know, the Textile Industry,like every other business firm inthe world, has functioned entirelywithout economic troubles of anysort for the past fifty years."
"Well, of course, sir...."
"And you are also well awareof what would be the results of anyfinancial deviation in any of thesefirms, particularly in a major industrysuch as our own."
"Certainly, sir. Ours is a delicatelybalanced economic system.Any slight change in the economicstatus of one firm would...."
"Exactly!" Edwin leaned acrossthe desk and glared at him. "I havejust come from a Board of Directorsmeeting. And it was madeknown to us that during the pastthree weeks our margin of profithas fallen off by three tenths of aper cent!"
Charles' face turned pasty white.He swallowed and took a deepbreath.
"Will that information be madepublic, sir?"
"Naturally not! But we aren'tsure just how long we can keep ita secret! The fact of the matteris, the IBM says that our profitmargin will continue to spiraldownward at a gradually increasingrate unless some drastic changeoccurs in our production set-up!"
Edwin leaned back and claspedhis hands, composing himself. "Theprecise reasons for the existence ofthe situation are quite obscure.However, the IBM has informed usthat the problem can be remediedif we make a particular changein our production system, and ithas informed us as to the nature ofthat change."
He stood up and placed a fingeron a capacitance switch. A panelin the Wall slid back to reveal sixsales charts. There were two eachmarked Winter, Summer andSpring-Fall. Three were designatedmarlons, and three marilyns. Eachof them showed a red line risingsteeply on the left, levelling out toa perfe