Fiving and Aging

[Nate the Great]

This is almost totally non-Trek related. Oh, I'm sure I'll come up with something at the end of the post, but here goes...

I was just in the forum membership list, and I found out that I'm older than Zeke. Not by much, just nine months, but still...

When I graduated from high school, I was so naive. Shockingly naive. I was raised in the suburbs. Everyone made about the same amount of money, and the very few students in my class that represented other racial groups weren't really different from me at all. No wildly different customs, dress codes, religious observances, etc. Even when I went to college, things really didn't change. More racial diversity, but we were still all basically college kids. Now that I'm out and working, I'm meeting people from all over. I could see that the "suburban mindset" had NEVER happened to these people. I've seen people in all kinds of economic and cultural situations. I've grown so much that it's only recently that it's hit me that I knew, and still know, so little. I'm getting older, as we all are. It still freaks me out when salespeople call me "sir," but when everyone around me is getting married, having kids, dealing with economic and familial hardships, etc. I have to admit that I'm starting to feel old.

I suppose there are some older fogies out there that say that I still don't know anything, and I'm sure that they're right, at least in one respect, but I suppose that that's a fundamental reality of all of our lives. Part of what Star Trek is all about is the exploration of "the unknown possibilities of existence," right? One reason we're all here is to support each other through the good and the bad. There are tough, hard choices that we all have to make. Fiving provides an escape, a chance to channel that brainpower into something creative, a chance to provide allegory to our fellow man. Sure, we're stealing most of our material from the Great Bird of the Galaxy, but I think he'd approve. Our work is still Trek, if you really think about it. Gene knew about the unpleasant aspects of reality, and how they help to shape who we are, what we think, and what we fell. Fivers carry on those fundamental messages, if you really think about it. I think that even though we cut out or mutate the serious stuff, the important ideas are still there. Even if we have to make fun of them. Heck, laughing preserves all of our sanities at times. I think a quote from my Shadowplay fiver applies to this:

Rurigan: Go ahead, dismantle the gizmo, take me home, whatever. It’s over. I’ve had a good life, but nothing lasts forever.
Dax: Except fruitcake, right?
Rurigan: Well, duh.

You see? That's Trek, and that's life. Melding humor with reality to come up with a balance that keeps us sane. I apologize if this has been too deep for some of you. Feel free to shoot me off of my soapbox now.

Comments?