3.31.19
Before:
We finished our beers, and in the following days I didn’t think much about what Alex had said. My boss was riding us for offering too much for the clothes people brought in for resale. Her latest email had ended: “Come see me if you need a refresher on our pricing guidelines -- it never hurts to ask :)”
“That chintzy bitch,” my coworker Zoe said on our smoke break, which we had coordinated to take together. “The other day she told me to offer this guy $15 for a mint pair of Doc Martens. Fifteen!”
“What did he say?”
“He walked, obviously.” She stubbed out her cigarette on a nearby dumpster. “Shit, they were even my size.”
* * *
A week later, scrolling through an email from one of the jobs boards I’d signed up for, I stopped at a listing: “EARN UP TO $250/day!!! PASSIVE INCOME - EARN AT YOUR OWN PACE.” I clicked through to a description for Horizont’s data curator program, “an exciting opportunity to earn passive income through your phone!” I filled out the linked form and clicked “submit.”
I got a call from an unlisted number the next day. “Hi there, this is Nicole. I’m a recruiter with Horizont. Is this--?”
“Yes,” I said. “I mean, hi. You guys move fast.”
Nicole laughed a laugh that conjured an image of a sentient sun hat. “In this environment, you have to! We’re doing exciting work, and the competition is starting to catch on.”
Nicole explained that the data curator program was still in testing, with four trial cities: Chicago, Houston, Anaheim and Bridgeport, Connecticut. DPGs were expected to wear the anklets at all times, except when bathing or swimming. The anklet synced its biometric and location data with Horizont’s smartphone app, which tracked users’ purchase history, internet browsing history and phone use.
“To be honest, I’m not sure how useful my data will be to you guys,” I said. “I don’t lead, like, a super interesting life.”
“That’s what makes you a perfect DPG candidate,” Nicole said. “If everyone in the program led ‘super interesting’ lives, the data they collected wouldn’t be of much use to our clients.”
After a few basic health questions (I lied about the smoking), Nicole said my anklet would arrive in three to five business days. Depending on how my six-week trial went, I could start earning more for more in-depth analysis.
“As long as everything’s syncing properly, you can pretty much forget about me until the six weeks are over,” Nicole said. “Now, I’ll let you go so you can get back to living your life!”