Odds Against Tomorrow

Sandy Sherman, the chairman of a company called Fitzsimmons Sherman, holds a meeting at the Empire State Building in New York City. The board of directors discusses the financial impact of the earthquake in Seattle. Years after the event, companies are being sued by Seattle workers’ families, and the families are winning the cases, putting many large companies out of business. Sandy asks the board what would happen to their company if a disaster struck the Empire State Building. A nervous junior associate, Mitchell Zukor, asks why it would matter: If the Empire State Building were destroyed, they would all be dead, and there would be no one to sue. The executives do not answer Mitchell, not wanting to verbalize that the directors of the company are rarely at the Empire State Building; only the department managers and staff actually work in the building. The executives change the subject. After the meeting, Mitchell is tasked with calculating the value of every employee’s life, in dollars, in the event of a disaster.

Mitchell works late into the night at his office at Fitzsimmons Sherman. He makes his calculations, considering how this task could be a stepping stone to a better job at the company, preferably in a department called “Risk.” Mitchell gets several pop-ups on his computer from a company called FutureWorld, reading, “FIND OUT WHAT THE FUTURE WILL COST YOU” (19). Mitchell decides to respond to the pop-up with a joke. He immediately receives a response from Alec Charnoble, FutureWorld’s founder, requesting a meeting. Intrigued, Mitchell invites Charnoble to meet him at his office. Charnoble says to expect him immediately, and Mitchell gets a call from the front desk saying he has a visitor.

Mitchell is worried that Charnoble will be a “mad man,” but when he meets Charnoble he realizes he is a salesman. Charnoble is the director of a company called FutureWorld, which advises corporations on the probability of impending catastrophes and how to cope with disaster when it strikes. Charnoble explains that the company is a response to the insurance lawsuits in Seattle after the earthquake. If a company partners with FutureWorld, it indemnifies them from post-disaster lawsuits. Charnoble encourages Mitchell to present FutureWorld’s pitch to Sandy Sherman. Before he leaves, he tries to recruit Mitchell to work for FutureWorld, impressed by his anxious demeanor and knowledge of catastrophes. On the way home, Mitchell contemplates whether or not Charnoble craves disaster. Mitchell thinks of how predicting a disaster would make him prophet-like and admits that these thoughts make him think of Elsa Bruner.

Mitchell receives a letter from Elsa Bruner—his first communication with her since she collapsed in college. Elsa tells Mitchell about her Brugada, which he already knew about. She says that calling the paramedics saved her life. Her familiar tone baffles Mitchell. He expects her to ask for money, but she explains that she is homesteading a former boys camp in Maine called Camp Ticonderoga. The commune-style life sounds idyllic; Elsa tells of days tilling the earth, canoeing, dancing, and swimming with her boyfriend and friends. She signs the letter “The Fainting Girl” (34).

Mitchell goes to a Korean restaurant two blocks from his office and tries a dish called bi bim bap. Mitchell enjoys the dish and continues to visit the restaurant every day until he develops a friendliness with the waitress. One day, however, he walks to another Korean restaurant and orders bi bim bap. He feels the dish is superior and continues to eat there. He does this again with another Korean restaurant further down the block.

Mitchell eventually writes Elsa back, telling her about his life in New York City. Elsa writes back that his letter upset her and that Mitchell seems very unhappy. She feels Fitzsimmons Sherman is the problem. Mitchell feels betrayed and shocked by her letter. He is especially perturbed by a drawing Elsa included of a girl lying in a canoe with Xs for eyes.

Mitchell finishes his calculations for Sandy Sherman and requests a meeting with him. The meeting takes place in a small office, which makes Mitchell uncomfortable. Sherman praises Mitchell’s work but speaks to him in a condescending tone. He offers Mitchell a job in the Equations and Vectors department, which Mitchell does not find appealing. Mitchell requests to be assigned to Risk and tries to tell Sherman about FutureWorld, but Sherman cuts him off. He says that Mitchell does not have the social skills or salesmanship to work in Risk. He dismisses Mitchell.

Mitchell gathers his things from his office as he prepares to switch departments. He looks at photos of his parents that his mother sent him. His parents, Rikki and Tibor, own rundown apartments in Kansas City called the Zukorminiums. They are notoriously foul. Tibor is Hungarian American and Mitchell recalls his father taking him to visit the stock exchange in New York when he was a kid. Tibor was very emotional at the sight, claiming, “This is where America happens” and “Greed is good” (43). Mitchell thinks of the slums his father runs and compares himself to a slumlord whose slums are inside of him.

Mitchell returns to his apartment and considers his conversation with Sherman. He realizes that he may be stuck in Equations and Vectors for a long time. He considers FutureWorld and looks up the loophole in the law Charnoble referenced in their meeting. He sees that Charnoble is right and calls him to accept the job offer. Charnoble pays him a sign-on bonus of $11,000 and agrees to pay him $16,000 a month, plus commission.

Mitchell calls his parents about his new job. Tibor is excited about how much money Mitchell will make, and Rikki says she is happy Mitchell has found something he is excited about. When Mitchell gets off the phone, he notices how small and sad his apartment is. He goes to the Korean restaurant for bi bim bap, but it tastes rancid. He does not finish the bowl but buys a postcard from the restaurant on the way out. On the way home Mitchell stops to listen to a man preaching about Armageddon and redemption. Mitchell addresses a postcard to Elsa and writes, “By the time you get this, I’ll be a futurist” (51).