Counselor/Medical Officer's Log #21 - "Other Than That, Mrs. Lincoln, How Was The Play?"

Posted on 26 Apr 2014 @ 6:51pm by Lieutenant JG Delainey Carlisle

337 words; about a 2 minute read

The Galileo has undertaken quite the mission, and I daresay our department has had quite the burden placed upon them.

First, it's been a bigger challenge than even I expected to help the crew get their feelings toward the Cardassians in check. As a counselor, it's in my nature to automatically validate another's emotions because I know regardless of whether I or anyone else agrees with those feelings, a person's perceptions are his or her reality. I also know people have more than a few legitimate and even heart-rending reasons to distrust or outright hate the Cardassians. If I had the personal history with them that many of the crew do, I'm sure I'd feel as strongly. The irony is, as the crew of a science vessel, we're supposed to be more open-minded than this, and we frankly don't have the time for people to come around.

If this were just about a more recent trauma, like say our battles with the Borg or our past boarding by the Klingons, I think it'd be easier to manage. We all shared a common set of experiences with them, and it's in that commonality that we could all find strength, but everyone has a different history with the Cardassians, and the passage of time has only hardened each person's attitudes about them. I would never say this to anyone out loud, but I'm practically biting my finger nails and holding my breath that there won't be an inter-stellar incident by the time this is all over.

Then there's our department's specific task, which is to determine whether these manifestations the miners are reporting are a result of environmental, psychological or medical factors. How does one inquire about a Cardassian's physical and mental stability without causing said inter-stellar incident? 'Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?' comes to mind. I think I'd have an easier time asking a Klingon to discuss his erectile dysfunction, frankly.

Here's hoping my next log doesn't find me in the brass' cross-hairs.

RSS Feed