The Real Meaning

 

As great thinker once said, "A lot of the time the real meaning isn't very important to us."

It can't be, not to folks like us. We can't afford it. How did we live this long? Passing on a Social Role. That's what we do. Sometimes we're lucky, sometimes we're not. But we do know what a Social Role is, and we try to differentiate between them.

Your script said "Have a wife and kids."

Mine said "Better yet, run for the hills."

I don't recall any of you ever mentioning your kids are on parole or in treatment programs. While I grew up under such conditions, and somehow knew better than to replicate that bug.

All along you had a point. You talked sense. Whether I agreed or not, it made sense to me. There are those who think they ought to breed and in a certain way, and then there's all the people who come to it by accident. You're basically swearing yourself to your kids and vice versa, while I can't imagine what that's like. Okay I could, but as a total fantasy that had little chance of coming true. The lottery is another such gamble.

I hope you're right about the value of the genes you're passing on. Because some of my genes are too heavy to tote around. If I'm making a mistake there's nobody to notice it, but if you're mistaken, well... Of course I hope you're right. For everybody's sake, including mine. Why would I not?