The human experience

Since my brain is still having problems with writers block, writing to letters to my alien friend from Zebrine seems to be the only way to get things out of my head. Here's my most recent correspondence:

Dear Xty'Alm,

Thanks for responding so quickly to my previous letter and with such detail. It's interesting and kind of creepy/fascinating/disturbing/intriguing that there's an entire field of education on your planet dedicated to the study humans called Humanology.

I have to admit it's pretty unsettling to know that humanology scientists on Zebrine grow humans for study and that at the end of it, these humans are recycled into new parts to grow more humans. I'm relieved that these lab-humans don't have the capacity for consciousness but it's still brings up a whole bunch of questions.

Like for example, do you see us as inferior to you?

We're pretty convinced as a race that we're super awesome so being reduced to lab-rat status by aliens on a different planet is a big blow to our pride.

And also, are you sure these lab-humans aren't conscious and could never be conscious at some point in the future?

If the answer is yes, then the people of Earth would probably have a big problem with this method of research. We don't usually condone experimenting on and killing humans. It's pretty ingrained in us that killing others is wrong. We have a lot of laws about it and serious punishments for people do it. It's a crime.

On the other hand, if those lab-human are unborn fetuses then Earthlings would probably look the other way. Most humans seem to have no problem giving people the option of killing their own, very young human babies that are well on their way to becoming fully functional, living, breathing, conscious people.

We also are very ambiguous when it comes to killing people to promote certain agendas. For instance if a government or a religious organization wants to promote their way of thinking they may justify killing a LOT of people to do it. And it won't necessarily be considered wrong or a crime. It just depends on which side you're on.

I know this doesn't make sense. Believe me, I don't understand it either. But I do know that when it comes to killing humans, we humans like to be the ones that do it.

I didn't mean to get side tracked by this issue but thought you'd appreciate a glimpse into some of our human complexities. I'm really relieved to hear that your particular field of humanology focuses more on sociology than on physical dissection and that I don't have to fear becoming a lab rat one day.

Since you're interested in the day to day life of humans let me tell you what I've been up to the last two days. It's not all that interesting so I'll just use key words.

Moving storage stuff. Kidnapper Van. Drive Salem to Portland. New tiny storage unit. Smoker manager guy says no living in storage unit. Darn. There goes that idea. Unload. WINDY. Rain. Oregon. Surprised? No. Drive away. Dodge falling branches. See rainbows. Dodge rolling Christmas tree. Trade Kidnapper Van for green car. Go to friends house. More packing. And packing. And packing. And throwing things away. And giving things away. And emptying out boxes. And stuffing suitcases. And repacking suitcases. And wishing there was no 50 pound limit.

GO TO FRIENDS BIRTHDAY PARTY!! Finally. Something FUN to do. Friends are awesome. Why are my friends all living around the world? I want them living wherever I live... please? Eat yummy food. Sing birthday song. Whack-a-mole friend comments about being the whack-a-mole friend (see previous post). Say awesome things about birthday girl. Take photos. Laughing. Gifts. Good.

So I'm really bad at that whole thing where we have an "official" time to go around a circle of friends and say nice things about the person being celebrated. When someone suggests it, like what happened yesterday at the birthday party, I immediately break out in a cold sweat. My heart rate goes up. I start blinking a lot. Even if I was just thinking about how awesome that person is I suddenly draw a complete blank. I squirm uncomfortably. I can't concentrate on anything anyone else says, except to think, darn it they stole my nice thing. Now I have NOTHING.

The root of the problem is that I'm terrible at giving words of affirmation. It's the "words" part that trips me up. I'm much better at "doing" words of affirmation. And by doing I mean hanging out.

If I purposely choose to spend time with you, if I go out of my way to see you or invite you to hang out with me, then that means I like you.

Of course words are still necessary and I naturally squeak out a few here and there, but it really takes work to coherently articulate my feelings of liking-ness. Words of affirmation can feel fake, contrived, made up, and insincere when they roll off my tongue, even when they're completely genuine.

Actions, on the other hand, sort of feel more real, more authentic, harder to fake. I guess, when it comes down to it, I'm a quality time girl. I love receiving affirmation and really need to hear it sometimes, but invite me to spend some good, solid, quality time with you and I'll know you like me.

Well there you have it, Xty'Alm. That's as much human experience as I can muster at this point.

I have a question for you. Why do you have an apostrophe in your name? I've noticed that lot of aliens use apostrophes in their names and they're not even from the same planet as you. For example Teal'c, Bra'tac and the Toc'ra, Kal'el and Jor'el to name a few.

This is a question I've had for a long time. Any light you could shed on the topic would be fantastic.

Also, how far away is your planet from us and how are you able to send me letters without it taking years? Have you conquered the problem of time dilation when and object nears the speed of light?

Some think I'm a nerd for knowing about this sort of stuff but it obviously has real-world application when it comes to sending letters across galaxies.

I look forward to hearing back from you.