Zeritsky's Law

"Zeritsky's Law" by Ann Warren Griffith is a satirical science fiction story from the 1950s that considers what happens when people decide to freeze themselves for future use. The story kicks off with a strange event involving a cat in a deep-freeze and spins into a bigger idea of using cold temperatures as humanity's fast pass to beating death; this story examines what happens to a society that loves taking shortcuts when it comes to immortality. The main events take place around the Zeritsky Brothers' business, which lets people escape their troubles by being frozen for years. At first, their customers are rich criminals dodging the law, but soon, they attract all sorts of people, including unhappy couples wanting to escape their marriages. The Zeritskys become very rich and famous until a mistake happens and a client is thawed out way too late, exposing the dangers and raising big questions about what is right and wrong. This mishap leads to the creation of the law against the freezing practice, humorously cautioning readers about the dangers that come about when technology messes with our morals.