The Event
A group of people were taking an ocean cruise which was
scheduled to make a number of stops at various exotic locations. At
each port, the passengers were told they would have so many hours
to explore the island, town, historic sites, or countryside -- depending
on the nature of the stop – before having to return to the ship and set
sail on the next portion of the voyage.
On the basis of past experience, the company owning the cruise
line had established several rules that were to govern the behavior of
people during these stopovers. In fact, these rules were considered to
be sufficiently important that certain stipulations even were written
into the contract covering the conditions of the voyage, and
prospective clients had to agree to these rules before being permitted
to sign on for the trip.
First, if any of the passengers did not return to the ship on time,
the cruise would continue on without such individuals, and those
people would have to make their own, alternative arrangements for
returning home. Secondly, although people were free to either buy or
pick up whatever cultural artifacts they came across during these
stops, the passengers were all responsible for the storage and safe-
keeping of such artifacts, so, if passengers were concerned about
someone stealing any of their possessions during these stopovers,
people were advised to take their property along with them while
visiting the island, town, or historic sites.
One of the crew members was a sort of amateur anthropologist,
and she noted that the individuals who went on these cruises tended
to fall into a number of different behavioral categories -- although
there was a certain amount of overlap among a few of the members
of the different categories who spent some time with more than one
group. Indeed, this general pattern was so consistent that even while
one might not be able to predict, prior to a particular voyage, which
person would fit into any given category, the overall statistical
character of the pattern tended to remain the same from one voyage
to the next.
For example, there was one group of individuals who
approached the cruise as a symbol of having arrived at a certain level
of status. After all, possessing the time and money to participate in
these trips said something about the character of the person engaging
in that kind of activity.
Moreover, the cruises had a reputation for being rather special
since, among things, they traveled to such interesting places. There
was so much to learn and anyone who took the extended, deluxe
package was considered to be someone of substance and quality – an
educated person of culture and refinement.
A further group of people were connoisseurs with respect to
different kinds of collectibles. They seemed to be in competition with
one another with respect to whom could acquire the most rare,
cultural artifacts during the stopovers. In addition, the more
someone’s collectible was steeped in historical lore and captivating
legends of scandalous and/or daring deeds , the greater would be the
value of this or that artifact as a topic of conversation during and
after the cruise.
Apparently, some of the people from this group were one of the
reasons the cruise line had instituted its rule about passengers taking
their valuables with them whenever they left the ship and went
exploring the new port of call, since the cruise line did not want to be
considered liable for whatever possessions of the passengers were lost
or stolen. Unfortunately, the passengers in this group became so
loaded down with cultural artifacts that they often couldn’t move fast
enough to make it back to the ship in order to comply with the
cruise’s stated time of departure, and, as a result, had to be left
behind.
Many of the people in this group were initially very exited about
their bargains, finds, and discovered treasures. Yet, when they got
back to the ship and were able to examine their collected items more
closely, what seemed so valuable on land appeared to be rather
mundane and commonplace when seen in the privacy of their state
rooms. However, they couldn’t divulge this discovery to anyone else
for fear of being considered a fool and/or a plebeian collector and, of
course, there was all the problems associated with having to
constantly lug one’s ‘valuables’ around in order to keep up pretenses
and/or to protect the items from would-be thieves.
In fact, this process of having to lug around their possessions
with them all the time frequently led to all kind of back problems and
spinal misalignments. As a result, there was a thriving on-board
industry involving medical doctors, chiropractors, message
therapists, herbal practitioners, financial advisers, and emotional
counselors to help alleviate the various kinds of pain arising out of
collectibles.
Naturally, there were a group of people who -- by choice,
circumstance, or education – were not opposed to separating
passengers and/or crew from their possessions ... that is, to take what
was not theirs -- some of these people were even government
representatives of one sort or another. In addition, there were people
in this group who seemed to seek out opportunities for creating
difficulties in the lives of others – whether this involved stealing or
some other form of trying to exploit the vulnerabilities of passengers,
crew, or the inhabitants of the various stopovers.
Another category of people saw the cruise as an opportunity to
socialize and network. These people spent much of their time –
whether on ship or during the various stopovers – looking for the
appropriate sort of people to be with ... people who reflected the right
sort of values, education, politics, ambitions, careers, or interests and
with whom one could have intelligent, civilized discussions, and,
thereby, pass the time while enjoying the different experiences which
each cruise invariably generated. Running in the right circles was
very important to such people.
Closely associated with, but distinct from, the foregoing group,
were the individuals who considered the cruise to be one long, mobile
party. These were people who had paid good money to take the cruise
and felt that as long as the basic conditions of the contract governing
the voyage were not violated, people should be free to do whatever
they like and to pursue whatever pleasures might be agreed upon by
consenting parties.
Then, there were the scholars who saw the voyage as a way to
study different cultures, philosophies of life, histories, governmental
frameworks, ecological systems, and so on, under pleasant, if not
enjoyable, circumstances. More often than not, they came on board
with boxes and cartons loaded with scientific instruments so they
could precisely measure this or that variable -- although they had
not, yet, come up with a devise for assessing, let alone detecting,
quality. In between stopovers they often secluded themselves in their
state rooms or the ship’s library as they developed their theories
about what they observed on the various islands, historical sites, and
so on, and prepared erudite papers for the Journal of Obscure
Scholars.
Rumor had it that on more than one occasion people from among
this group of people became so absorbed in their research that they
failed to get back to the dock in time to board the ship before it left.
Apparently, this group, along with the aforementioned ‘collectibles’
group, were among the primary reasons for certain stipulations being
written into the cruise contract governing the conditions of the
voyage by which the passengers were bound -- although, frankly,
some blame also was laid at the feet of some of the members of the
following group, since individuals from among this group sometimes
were found wandering, with slackened jaws and vacant expressions,
about the islands entirely oblivious to their surroundings and the fact
they needed to get back to the ship by a pre-established time.
More specifically, this latter group consisted of individuals who
might be referred to as forming an aesthetically inclined group. They
spent their time on board, as well as during the stopovers, writing
stories, or composing poetry, or making films, or painting pictures,
or creating music – using the events of the voyage as subject matter.
These individuals usually didn’t have any idea as to where their
creative inspirations came from, but, apparently, possession is nine-
tenths of the law.
Another enterprising group of individuals used the cruise as a
sort of floating business center. Not only did they make commercial
deals of one kind, or another, while playing shuffleboard or skeet
shooting on one of the lower aft decks of the ship or sitting around
the dinner table, but, as well, at each and every port to which they
disembarked, they went in search of new possibilities for either
exporting or importing the latest line of widgets. In addition, they
seemed to be engaged in endless rounds of musical chairs involving
money, careers, jobs, and communities.
Some passengers saw the voyage as an interesting set of
experiences. A way of passing time as they traveled from one point
to the next -- frequently entertaining, often intriguing, challenging on
occasion, sometimes dangerous, and permeated with a sense of
mystery. These individuals came, they saw, they learned, and they
tried to reflect on the significance of what they learned through those
experiences and utilize such learning to become more loving,
compassionate, empathetic, generous, helpful, patient, and tolerant
with respect to the other passengers, as well as in relation to the
people who lived in the places where the cruise stopped.
The ship’s amateur anthropologist who, quite informally but
over many years of observation and conversation with the
passengers, had come up with the different categories of people
which have been outlined above, also had come across a certain
amount of evidence – though it was rather elusive and hard to
establish – concerning the existence of secret agents from various
governments, who were using the voyage as a cover for conducting
operations of a, well, secret nature. The anthropologist was never
quite sure about the purpose of such operations or against whom
these operations were directed – possibly the cruise line, or, maybe,
the crew, or the passengers, or, perhaps, the islands and towns where
the ship stopped during the voyage, or, maybe, even the other agents.
Some years earlier, the cruise line had decided to stop accepting
applications from lawyers. Apparently, everyone had grievances, of
one kind or another, with them - even lawyers.
One day, nearly a week after the ship had left one of the
scheduled stops, the ship had an unexpected meeting with an iceberg
in the darkness of night and quickly sank. No one knows what
happened to the people on the ship.
A Board of Inquiry was convened, perhaps by lawyers or secret
agents, to try to establish the truth of the cruise event. The final
report has, yet, to be issued, but indications are, from a source who
wishes to remain anonymous, that testimony from a mystery witness,
who disembarked from the ship shortly before it struck the iceberg,
indicates that the Board’s findings will really shake things up and
that much more was going on with respect to the cruise than many
of the passengers or crew suspected.
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