Jim’s first job was at a shop called “Air Cleaning Machines For Everyone.” He considered it an odd name for a shop, however his boss had told him it was a necessary annoyance.

“We aren’t allowed to call ’em by their real names,” he had said, motioning toward the everyday home devices. “The closest we come is calling ‘em ’vacs.’ Don’t ask me why; the government has enforced some kind of law against it.”

Jim simply decided that his employer was a little eccentric, and let it slide. They had all sorts of home-cleaning devices for sale, from the every-day ’vacs to high-priced, massive systems that vaporize all dirt in a seventy-mile area.

He was fired six months after he began his job at the “Air Cleaning Machines For Everyone” shop. Nobody told him why, and he had a feeling that it had something to do with the fact that he’d let slip the forbidden word. He felt this was not fair, since the client had said it first, and he merely did likewise.

Can’t fire the clients, he agreed. Had to be me.