Hell Jobs part II

The Chair of Torture.

Back about five years ago I was in between jobs and my savings were dwindling fast.

I had just begun dating an Italian girl who worked as a lab assistant at Northwestern University.

She was explaining to me that it was her job to find subjects for a research project the school had just received a hefty grant for. I jokingly inquired how much it paid and she said $100 a day for two days however their tests only lasted a few hours.

Since she was having difficulty finding volunteers and I needed the cash we colluded to have me participate.

So on an incredibly frigid January day I found myself taking the bus to Northwestern Hospital not quite knowing what to expect.

Pretending not to know me the girl I was dating we went thru a charade of being introduced when I showed up. I was ushered into an empty conference room where I was soon joined by a pretty graduate student who would be interviewing me. I immediately began flirt outrageously with her in an attempt to fluster her professional demeanor.

I rather enjoyed the interview process because it allowed me to talk about my favorite subject, me!

I remember having to fill out a bunch of forms and before I knew it they handed me my hundred dollars and I was free to go.

That was easy I thought, with the money already burning a hole in my pocket.

The next day I was to report to a lab at the University of Chicago where the real tests were to take place.

The building didn't have an address on it so I remember walking around the block several times in the bitter cold. The place was very modern looking, which made it stand apart from the older gothic architecture the campus is famous for. They had elaborate security where I had to go thru a couple different check points and take a special elevator that had no buttons on the inside, something I have never seen before.
Once inside the lab the girl I was dating and another grad student were waiting for me.
They had me sit down and for an hour began placing electrodes all over my scalp and face with a gooey conducting fluid.
Next they led me into a sound proof sealed room which had a single chair in it.
They left and shut me in. From a remote booth they talked to me thru a microphone and explained what I was in store for.
The objective of their study was to gauge the reactions a person with or without a mental illness has to different images.
I sat there for the next several hours as a projector flashed one image after another onto the wall facing me. The electrodes would register the slightest wince of smile.
It was not unlike the scene in A Clockwork Orange where Alex receives the Ludovico Treatment, but mercifully without the eyelid restraints and serum.
One moment there would be an image of a smiling baby then a close up of a rattlesnake, fangs bared, about to strike. There were pictures of riots, overflowing toilets, green pastures, destruction, and other disturbing scenes.
It seemed to go on and on. Although I'm not claustrophobic the electrodes were most uncomfortable and I felt like ripping them out, kicking the door open and running out of there.
Apparently someone who is a sociopath would give a reading of indifferece to a scene of mayhem or serenity I was told.
Finally the torture came to an end and I could collect my money and leave.
It was the single worst thing I ever had to do for money in my entire life.
I never saw the girl again.
A few months ago she contacted me out of the blue to see how I was doing, and I suspect
feel me out about dating again.
I deleted the email