Chapters 17 - 18 Summary

The Shah of Bratpuhr has asked to visit an average Chicago resident, and the computers select Edgar R. B. Hagstrohm as completely average, with an average IQ of 83, average height, weight, number of kids, bedrooms, and years of marriage.

The Shah comes to see Hagstrohm's house, which is full of gadgets to do all the housework with a press of the button. He asks what they do with all the time saved by these devices, and they answer, lamely, that they live, mostly meaning that they watch TV. The washing machine is broken, and the wife reveals washes the clothes by hand, happy to have something to do.

Hagstrohm has been having an affair with the wife of a friend who recently died. After the Shah leaves, Hagstrohm and his wife have a scene, and she cries because she has nothing...