11-2024
This easy-to-follow imaginary story was created by Microsoft’s AI program Copilot, with some guidance and prompting by me. We created this story mainly to illustrate one thing – the ability of this and similar consumer AI programs to create rich realistic-looking images. To assure you see entire images, in Windows 10 or 11 under View, make sure the Immersive Reader option is turned on.
After a hearty breakfast of bread, eggs, and coffee, you don your worn but sturdy uniform and head out into the crisp morning air. As you walk your route, you’re greeted with the cacophony of the city: streetcars clattering, newsboys shouting headlines, and the ever-present hum of industry. Of course, out in the street it always smells like horse poop.
The Telegraph Office
By 7 AM, you’ve arrived at the Western Union Telegraph Company on Broadway, where you’ve worked for over two decades. Your role is vital in maintaining the city’s telegraph lines, ensuring that the lifeblood of communication flows uninterrupted.
Regular office work seemed too boring for me.
Today, you’re tasked with inspecting and repairing a series of telegraph poles along the bustling thoroughfare.
You make your way to the first telegraph pole, your toolkit slung over your shoulder. With practiced ease, you scale the pole and begin your inspection. The wires are strained from the cold winter, and you carefully re-secure each connection.
Around noon, you take a break and head to a nearby café, where the talk of the town is the recent demonstrations of alternating current (AC) by the brilliant inventor, Nikola Tesla. You remember attending one of his electrifying lectures, where he showcased the potential of AC power to revolutionize the world. The café is abuzz with excitement about Tesla’s plans to build a hydroelectric power plant at Niagara Falls.
During your midday break at a nearby café, you overhear groups of immigrants speaking in Italian, German, and Polish. The diversity of languages and cultures enriches the tapestry of the city, reminding you of the many faces and stories that make up New York.
Or, once in a while I could go eat in a fancy place.
From atop a telegraph pole, you catch sight of a remarkable contraption moving down the street: a horseless carriage. This newfangled automobile draws the wide-eyed attention of pedestrians. You marvel at the ingenuity and the promise of a future where such vehicles might replace horse-drawn carriages. The possibilities seem endless.
The afternoon presents a new challenge: a telegraph line near Wall Street has gone down. You quickly diagnose the problem—a snapped wire—and deftly splice it back together. As you work, you marvel at the changing landscape of the city, with new electric streetlights replacing gas lamps and the promise of an electrified future on the horizon.
Once in a while I could get home early for supper. On the way home I passed by Tesla’s lab and even got a glimpse of him.
Dinner was soon ready.
In 1890, a telegraph repairman in NYC typically worked long hours, often from dawn until dusk, due to the urgent nature of maintaining telegraph communications. It’s likely that a repairman might get off work around 6 or 7 PM.
Sometimes I would dream of what the future could bring and what it could look like.
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