Jessica Smith got up one morning and got ready to go to work. When she stepped outside to get in her car she noticed that all the cars in the street were going backward.
Thinking she had stepped into a time warp she quickly looked at her watch.
The seconds hand was still plugging diligently forward and clockwise into the space time continuum.
Her car was parked facing the street.
``I guess I'll back out,'' she said.
She pulled out into the street so that she faced opposite the direction she wished to go, put the car in reverse and joined the backward traffic flow.
It didn't take long to get used to it, though she was anxious about getting on the freeway. After a few minutes she found it quite pleasant to drive backwards while looking in the rear view mirrors. It didn't take long at all to become adept at steering, braking and even changing lanes. She did see the driver of a triple trailer truck parked on the shoulder weeping openly, but apart from that the leisurely pace was quite relaxing and a holiday spirit prevailed.
At work she half expected to see people sitting backward at their terminals which she thought would be an improvement, but no, everyone faced their keyboards. There was a difference though. The keyboard. It was in alphabetical order with A at the top left and Z on the bottom followed by the numerals and symbols. There was no shift function.
She soon got used to it, though it did slow her down a bit. By the end of the day she was almost up to speed.
At the grocery store she was surprised to find that a new language had been introduced. It was a universal language loosely based on Esperanto, but with character icons replacing syllables. A key book was provided. She quickly grasped enough to make her purchases and communicate with the checker.
``How was your day?'' the checker asked in the new language.
``Great!'' she answered after consulting her key book.