Jail Sentence by Doc

In jail again….and again…

Guilty… guilty… again and again.

James looked at the 3 x 5 card taped to the side of his monitor:  his commandments.  A mentor in The Dominion had given them to him:
1.    Say thank you.
2.    Obey
3.    Ask questions.
4.    Shut up!
5.    Don’t ramble
6.    Answer questions
7.    Be less self-centered
8.    Slow down
9.    Express ‘feeling’ in voice
10.    Focus!

He had never noticed there were 10 commandments before – how curious!

He decided to start his examination of conscience by looking at ones he figured he was pretty good on.  Saying thank you: check.  Obeying: check.  Focus: check.

Now the maybes: Ask questions?  Well, probably good there, too.  He was constantly googling!  He figured he was probably ok on answering questions, too.  At least he had the sense to say, “I don’t know” if he didn’t.

But then on to the bad stuff.

Even in real life folks said James’s voice caused problems.  “You always sound as if you’re angry,” one lady told him.  James wasn't sure what to do about that since he didn’t know what an ‘angry voice’ sounded like.  Next issues: Shut up and don’t ramble.  Guilty.  The problem was that one idea led to two, then the two to six, and the six to…. His mind kept jumping from here to there, sensing connections and analogies.  One Second Life lady laid down the law:, “I can’t follow you when you talk!  You do better in text.  Let’s do this: I voice; you reply in text!”  James said, “Yes, Miss!”

And then the “slow down” issue.  The bane of his real life, also.  Every once in a while he’d meet a customer who spoke and moved as fast as he did.  That was magic.  More often he got the comment:  “Son, would you just slow down a bit and go over that so I can keep up with you?  You talk too fast!” He tried, but it was hard.  And he relapsed quickly.

James was avoiding number seven.  It was the Root of All Evil.  Worse he didn’t know what it meant.  “Be less self-centered”.   As James looked out onto the world and its inhabitants, he simply didn’t know what to center on…..  He could focus on things: the song of a cardinal, the contents of a novel, the contrails of a commercial airliner against a blue sky.  But he wasn't sure that’s what ‘self-centered’ meant.  James ate; James showered; James drove the freeways to work.  James was constantly focused on his tasks, keeping himself motivated, meeting his deadlines.  They were right.  His attention did center on himself.  He couldn’t imagine not focusing on himself.

And suddenly James decided he shouldn't have written 500 words for his jail sentence.  He took the paper, wadded it into a ball, and said, ‘Fuck it!’
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James is lucky I retrieved the paper on which he’d written his self-absorbed analysis.  Otherwise he’ll be jailed, found guilty, and sent off yet again.  Sisyphus!