I think that most of us remember when our family only had one computer and it was located somewhere convenient where it could be used for both home business and school work as well. I was recently cleaning out some old computer folders and ran across one entitled “Kids Essays”. I almost deleted it, but my curiousity had me opening it and spending an afternoon laughing and sometimes crying at the writings of my children. One essay in particular had me laughing so hard that I passed my laptop to Gene and watched him laugh hysterically. We were both amused and touched by the essay. Since I didn’t, and don’t plan to ask permission(my computer, my rules), I will publish this without attribute. It reads:
I feel very fortunate to be chosen to participate on an interplanetary mission and will do my best to represent this University and the education and values that I have acquired while attending the university. Though narrowing my selection of three items I take with me could prove difficult, I feel uniquely qualified to do this as my mother has challenged us with this mind game for many years as our family endured cross country car trips. Generally, the game began with her saying, “Okay, you are on a ship and it is about to sink. You can take three things with you on the life boat. Space and time are essential. What would you take?” Occasionally we were treated with a plane crash in the desert or being stranded in Alaska, but the constant was always a limit of three objects. When I was younger, I always included my mother in the three items because she could cook, but as I have grown older, I’ve become more practical in my selections.
The book that I would take with me would be the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. This is a book about one man’s voyage throughout an entirely odd universe after the destruction of his home planet, Earth. It also describes his interactions with the people, and “things”, he meets along the way. He feels stranded and alone on the inside, but puts up a front of being cynical and unbothered by the fact that he is a hitchhiker in a strange universe. I would take this book with me because I believe that I would feel very much the same way that the main character does about the strange universe that he is in and the life he left behind. I feel that this book would be able to help me through the voyage by giving me a connection to the culture and people that are waiting for me when I get home, and help me hold on to the person that I am, rather than becoming a more isolated person, feeling alone at all times.
The technological device that I would take with me would be a cassette tape player, along with cassette tapes that have recorded messages from friends and family. This would mean a lot to me because, being isolated from the people that I know and love for so long would make me feel lonely and helpless, as if the distance between me and the people I know would never close again. Hearing the voices of the people, along with their messages of luck and wishes would help me remember the people that I will return to and help me endure the voyage by preventing me from feeling too far from home. Although the messages would eventually get old, and I would be able to recite them word for word, the thoughts and wishes of others would never age, and I would always receive a feeling of warmth from listening to them.
The personal item that I would take with me would be a yearbook or photo album compiled of pictures and comments from friends, something tangible that I could carry with me to remind me of my life. One of the biggest problems that I would face on my journey would be loss of self; I would have a lot of time to think, and when I think too much about my life, or my situation, I can sometimes loose some touch with reality, with my life. Having a tangible memory of my life could help me keep touch with my life in a time of great isolation. My friends and family are the most important things in my life, and I will do anything to preserve them.
Though interplanetary travel has a lot in common with traveling cross country with my family in a car in that it seems to take forever and can be mind numbing, there are some differences as well. For one thing, the endless miles of corn rows would be replaced by the endless void of space which would make the travel itself slightly more interesting. While traveling with my family, I at least know who I’m getting stuck with and recognize the stops along the way (McDonald’s, Dairy Queen). Interplanetary travel could subject me to a philosophical traveling companion who talks non-stop about the deeper meaning of Barry Manilow while chewing his fingernails. I believe the objects that I have chosen will help me survive the trip.
I hope you enjoyed this as much as we did.