A few years ago, I had a pretty good scam going that got me a co-working space for a cut rate. I paid $35 a month for an app that gave me access to various co-working spaces that relied on an honor system for users logging their hours — sometimes I logged my hours accurately, sometimes I did not, and sometimes I “forgot” to log them altogether. In my defense, I was a struggling freelancer living paycheck to paycheck in New York, barely making rent, and it was difficult for me to see it as anything other than a victimless crime. The space I was “stealing” was luxurious, almost certainly flush with VC money, and never more than half-full; I didn’t feel guilty for sitting in a chair that otherwise would have been empty, quietly typing away on my laptop. Besides, paying to work is something of a scam to begin with — a scam that now, in a post-pandemic world where many are disillusioned with work full stop, feels particularly grating.