The Real Hard Sell

"The Real Hard Sell" by William W. Stuart is a science fiction tale from the early 1960s that looks at what it means to be human in a future run by robots. The story dives into Ben Tilman’s life, a salesman who feels lost even though he has a good job, a family that loves him, and a new house. As Ben gets ready to show off a new sales idea at a party – a house completely run by robots – he starts to wonder if he really wants a life where machines do everything. By the end, Ben decides he'd rather have a real life, even if it's not as easy, choosing his family and a life not dominated by technology over the perfect, automated existence.