Nobody Ever Complained Before: Difference between revisions

* In ''[[The Conquerors Trilogy]]'' by [[Timothy Zahn]], first contact with the Zhirrzh goes very badly because the ghosts they use for communication ([[It Makes Sense in Context]]) are fatally sensitive to radio waves. Humans are the ''FOURTH'' species this has happened with (the other three they conquered, thus the trilogy title). They never figured out that these species were trying to communicate; instead, clearly, all those other species attacked them at first contact. And those other species were so barbaric they ''armed their escape pods''! And so on.

* Played for horror in Shirley Jackson's ''[[The Lottery]]'': The premise is a town that holds an annual lottery, where the "winner" of the lottery gets stoned to death by the rest of the locals. The townsfolk have no qualms about this, even going as far as {{spoiler|a mother getting stoned by her own children when she receives the wining ticket}}. Other towns have begun to abolish this lottery in protest, along with one person in this town, which the other townsfolk can only interpret as societal regression.