Keen to Cross the Pond

Eric: You know, I’ve done some research. And it seems like Casi, the one who you knew, wanted to be your friend.

Lacey: *thinks*

Did she really though?

Eric: *thinks*

Lacey: I doubt it.

I think she was always just fake.

Eric: Well, according to some people…she was actually hurt. From the beginning. That you didn’t want to be her friend as much as she wanted to be your friend.

And that was where the bad blood, on her side, started. All the jealousy.

So…her obsession with you, is because…she always felt like you held all the power. …Not just because you were better-looking, etc., but because…she wanted the friendship more.

Lacey: *looks confused*

Eric: *he smirks*

*then laughs*

So Lem helped assassinate JFK?

Lem: Yes.

I actually hated him. Eventually.

A lot of the misinformation and misinterpretation about my feelings…stems from the fact that there was a cover-up. And Gore Vidal was used as a part of that cover-up.

He may not have been aware. He may have been prompted.

I was heterosexual. …They knew that before I did. …And by the late 1970’s/early 1980’s…I figured it out. In counseling.

Eric: These things are obviously interconnected, to me. The similar psychology.

Lacey…did you…think she was after something?

Lacey: *thinks*

Yes.

I had more followers. …And I was more popular and accepted than her. At that time. I think and thought that she was just…after popularity. And she was just using me like a stepping-stone. Or a social accomplishment.

She didn’t seem that deeply interested in real friendship.

Eric: But you’d believe she had a crush on you?

Lacey: People get crushes. *I shrug*

Eric: So you think she had a crush on other people too?

Lacey: I’d guess that she did. Yes.

Eric: Well, according to what I heard, she felt rejected. Because she wanted a real friendship.

Lacey: Huh.

No, I did not fully realize that.

Lem: She’s not narcissistic. She never assumes such things.

One of Casi’s relatives: Then why did she assume Casi would like her posts?

Lacey: Because she had a pattern of doing that.

One of Casi’s relatives: But why would she be doing that to begin with?

Lacey: I have no idea!

*she shrugs*

I had no idea.

I had a theory that it was just…the norm. …Like…tradition. Sort of. People were a lot more interactive back then.

One of Casi’s relatives: So she never assumes such things?

Even of you!?

Lem: *laughs*

That’s very personal.

But yes, absolutely.

*weird silence*

Putin: I’ve told her I love her.

*he laughs*

It’s very unlikely…we’ll ever be married. …e she’s fine.

…I’m not a perfect person. I guess. …I wasn’t lying though…

With someone like her…you can never make assumptions. …You can build relationship. She’s a very stable person. But…you cannot assume. Only know.

Casi: So she’s unstable?!

Putin: Are you an uneducated fool?

…That’s clearly not what I just said.

Get your head out of your own ass, for once.

Damn!

Mark Zuckerberg: She’s not a bad person.

…I actually relate to her way of thinking.

Lacey: That’s kind.

Lem: She’s an incredibly stable person. She’s doubtful to create stability. …And it’s been effective. Her whole life.

Casi, she’s not stupid. I’m sorry you have a hard time accepting that…

Casi: Well, I just wanted friendship.

*she says, nervously*

The CIA: She’s not attracted to women! Really.

Casi: *thinks*

Lacey: Yeah, I’m just not.

Casi: Can that change? *she asks God*

God: No.

Casi: *nods, rolls her eyes, and smiles*

Lem: She really is mine, anyway. Alright?

I made horrible mistakes. People have no idea who I really am.

I think some people in my family may know. But…maybe not.

Of course, someday people will understand.

I don’t think I’m a bad man. Right, Lacey?

Lacey: Yes. Certainly not.

Dimitry: So…how long does it take to convince her she’s even wanted?

Tom: It may take thousands of years. …But, then again, God is very good at fixing things.

Satan: I went out of my way to make her feel rejected by all of humanity other than her kids. Because…I had…personal objectives.

You think that’s self-aggrandizing? It’s not.

Eric: Yeah. That’s what this entity is actually saying.

And…it seems like this entity is the actual Satan.

A Millennial: So she’s…in the wrong generation. To begin with.

Lucille Ball: Absolutely!

She’d have had several close female friendships from childhood, if she’d been born in 1918. Or 1920. …You get the idea.

We just understand her better.

A Millennial: And to us she seems too friendly.

Lucille Ball: Yes!

Whereas to us, she’s just normal. We were all like that.

It wasn’t…seen the same way. …Back then everyone was polite and friendly. Like her. …But you didn’t…decide it was a close friendship, until you really had established something with each other.

Lacey: I always…get confused.

One of Lacey’s neighbors: Your kids are more friendly too.

Lucille Ball: *nods*

They are.

*she shrugs*

Lacey: They’re not as friendly as I was, though.

Lucille Ball: No. We really were more…friendly.

Think of Our Gang. Think about how cheerful and warm those kids always were.

They also fight more. …Openly.

Lacey: Is it formal friendliness?

Lucy: YES!

It’s just a way of building…a foundation for friendship.

Lacey: How do you all do that!?! I’ve never been able to figure it out.

One of Lacey’s neighbors: We hate people. And love people. In a different way.

We’re…less…direct. Too.

We…stan each other. Like…you don’t…”get along with some people”. …But then other people…you “just love”.

It’s kinda tribal.

Lacey: That’s interesting.

So you just instinctually know who you prefer? You’re not equally friendly to everyone? Just to be polite.

One of Lacey’s neighbors: No.

Lacey: I don’t think I’ve ever truly realized that. Until now.

One of Lacey’s neighbors: So you’re just friendly to everyone!??

Tom: That’s how they all were. Really.

Lacey: Yes. Other than for safety reasons.

Lucille Ball: But see…when it’s just formal…it’s not that big of a deal.

Lacey: Exactly!

Satan: *laughs*

This isn’t that complicated.

*he smiles*

You’ve just been absolute bitches to her.

*he laughs*

Sometimes she has wanted friendship. But you’ve assumed she was desperate, when she was always just being herself. Being natural. And that’s just…being nice. But you all take it so damn seriously!

Casi: So now she assumes no one wants friendship. Even when they maybe do?

Satan: DUH!

The perfume community: I thought that was just an act. To make people feel sorry for her.

Casi: I know!? Right!?

Satan: Except, it’s not.

At all.

The perfume community: Then I’m a horrible person.

Satan: *smiles*

Lacey: OH GO-

*she rolls her eyes*

Whatever.

The perfume community: No, I’m being serious. I’m a horrible person…

Lacey: SHUT-UP!!!!! *she screams*

The perfume community: No, I’m trying to be accountable…-

Lacey: YEAH RIGHT!!!

*she scoffs*

Casi: Yeah, so I wanted friendship.

Lacey: *snarls*

Right.

*rolls her eyes*

One of Lacey’s neighbors: I’m not as pretty as you…

Lacey: Duh!

*rolls her eyes*

Satan: You guys are so slow.

She’s not been desperate. …But so many of you have been getting egotistically high as kite!!! Her whole damn life!

Ken: Why is she so quiet?

Satan: BECAUSE SHE’S THINKING!!!

*he laughs*

Lacey: Yes, that is why.

One of Lacey’s neighbors: I am pretty though…

Lacey: Yes! True!

Casi: We take everything more personally than you.

Lucy: In a way, it’s actually less personal.

Lacey: Yes! It’s weird not to be more…polite. So weird.

Ken: So then how do you have a conversation about politics? With Lacey?

Lacey: You should slow down.

It’s quite…emotionally charged. And…complicated.

My silence isn’t from stupidity. It’s honesty. And…humility. …Not lack of insight.

And it’s gross I should have to say that about myself.

Casi: I can’t be this…reserved.

Lacey: Then I can’t relate that deeply to you. I’m sorry!

Casi: So I was just trying to be friends with my grandmother?

Lacey: *laughs*

Maybe.

Casi: Yeah!

Not all grandmothers are the same, but…my grandmother’s generation was nicer. All of them. I can see where you might think they…were your friend…when they were just being nice.

Satan: Ken…those women really were different.

You can’t just march up to them and demand they be men. Have…real conversation. About…politics. Instantly.

Did your father never fully understand how smart your mother was?

Ken: Yes.

Satan: *smiles*

She’s not dumb either. Lacey, I mean. They’re just more estrogen-heavy. And they genuinely think differently than real men.

A non-binary person: …This is awkward.

So…how does that work?

Lucy: Well…you…can’t just spring it on me. And expect a quick response. …If I’ve been reading about it or something…you know? Then maybe I can respond, fast. But…I take time to think. And feel.

I think people get confused by that. And they assume it’s just ignorance. …Because some women hide their ignorance, behind that old way of thinking. But for others of us, it’s just a way of being.

Casi: Why do you get so flustered?

Lacey: People are…people?

I think everyone gets flustered?

Casi: We read way too much into everything you did. And said.

One of Lacey’s neighbors: Did you want to be friends with any of us?

Lacey: I feel like I don’t really know any of you. Other than through…distant observation. …And maybe some of my observations are right. …But I don’t really know any of you?

One of Lacey’s neighbors: Why is that a question?

Lacey: Because you seem to think I do?

One of Lacey’s neighbors: …I feel like I know you…

Lacey: *is aghast*

HA!

You, don’t know me.

You, CERTAINLY DO NOT KNOW ME.

*I laugh*

We’re acquainted, at best.

Satan: That’s actually true.

Lacey: *confused*

How do you all get so close, so quickly?

*later*

A Millennial: We just…”click”.

Do you ever “click” with people?

Lacey: *thinks*

In a way that’s not romantic?

A Millennial: Yes.

Lacey: *thinks*

No.

Well…not really. …I mean…there are women with whom I get along more easily with, than others. And some men. …But…I’ve never really “clicked” with people. In any real way. …I’ve thought I did. But…not really.

Men? Romantically? Yes! But not in friendship.

Lem: We click. Lacey and I.

I actually didn’t with Jack.

…We were…decidedly friends. Okay? …Because he was trying to sleep with me. And I was straight, and very naive.

*he looks sad*

But…we didn’t “click”. Either. …It wasn’t like that. You’ve projected that into the story. Over time.

But Lacey and I? We actually did. Very much so!

Elliott: I think I kinda clicked with her too.

…Doesn’t mean we should be together for eternity, but…it was there.

*later*

One of Casi’s relatives: I’m so confused.

Did you even reject her?

Lacey: I mean…we were never going to be close friends.

*scoffs*

But…in what way?

One of Casi’s relatives: Why?

Lacey: WHY!?

*rolls her eyes*

Is it wrong to not want to be close to everyone!? NO.

GROW…UP!

*fumes*

One of Casi’s relatives: No.

Lacey: YEAH!

*thinks*

We’re VERY different people! …How does she and everyone else…miss that!? …It’s ludicrous!

God: It is. She’s not exaggerating.

Lacey: Do you not understand the differences between people anymore?!! Are you all too…brainwashed?

Casi: What are even the differences!?!

*she says, desperately*

Lacey: Why…are you damn determined to be me!??

*she laughs*

Casi: Because I admire you?

Lacey: *laughs*

Well thank you, but what an IDIOTIC idea…

I’m prettier, and smarter and better-bred. Okay?

*I roll my eyes*

So mimicking me will seem…profitable, at first. Because you’re imitating someone “better” than you.

But…people actually like you. …As much as you’re rejected…they like you being you. …I guarantee it.

Casi: Fine.

Lacey: You’re an Aries and I’m a Libra-Virgo. We’re very different.

I’m currently not a fire sign. On my own.

Just think about it.

You’re NOT me. …And I’m not you.

It would be like me…trying to be an Aries. …I’m not…that person. It’s irritating. Trying to imitate that, at the moment.

Sarah Jessica Parker: I get what you mean.

Lacey: THANK YOU.

*she rolls her eyes*

Lacey: I was interviewed, as the President of the Messiah College Democrats. Before the debate at Messiah between Obama and Clinton. And I said that I could “feel the weight of history”. *I laugh*

See…I have an unusual way of seeing the world. And…I assumed everyone else sees the same things I do, but just doesn’t talk about them. Because…at that point, I was…feeling…behind. And I…just…assumed everyone else…would automatically know what I was talking about.

Eric: What were you actually talking about?

*he laughs*

Lacey: I was sensing something close to like…an aura.

And there was the significance of the debate between Hillary and Barack. Because that was a very historically important election. But also, I was sensing…something Four Dimensional. *she laughs*

Like…an actual weight.

*she laughs*

Gettysburg has a very heavy feeling, in a similar way. Parts of the Bermuda Triangle do… Parts of Western North Dakota do. It’s not uncommon. But…it’s not without meaning.

Eric: What’s the lightest you’ve ever felt?

Lacey: Back in the early 1990’s…the Mall of America used to feel light. …Sometimes…new houses, purchased by a happy family, feel light.

Most old places always carry a certain literal weight, spiritually.

Eric: What does that weight feel like?

Lacey: Well…God exists outside of time. And…this element does as well. But, like a ghost, it’s possible to sense it, here.

It feels almost physically heavy. …It’s sort of almost physically suffocating, with its heaviness.

It’s…akin to the feeling of…carrying a heavy backpack. *I laugh* But it’s…all over. And…it’s obviously not just on your back. It’s…more like the thoughts of others, throughout history, are focused on that moment and it’s…so much focus…from so many people…that it creates a weight. Like a machine that crushes tin cans.

Eric: Assumption at Munich. Does that seem obvious to you?

Lacey: Yes.

I could never figure out what to write about. In classes. Because….everything seemed so obvious.

Eric: Summarize the whole book.

Lacey: Oh! That’s-

He was writing at a toddler level understanding of history.

*she rolls her eyes*

But I guess everyone loves it?

*she looks nauseous*

Well…given the historical trends at that time…they made the decision to maintain the status quo. At the expense of objectivity and truth. Which is a common mistake, possibly, made by world leaders throughout history. …To hold on to common, comforting, popular understandings instead of being sharp, and embracing the inherent stress and pains of real change.

Dull. Ordinary stuff-

Eric: When’s a time in history when people when people haven’t done that?

Lacey: *smirks*

Well, and embracing change and being sharp…may not produce good results. Of course. …Because, I would say…the Nazis…succeeded in embracing real change. Embracing real change and creating some intellectually coherent response. Coherent, not perhaps sane. *she laughs*

Eric: How was it insane?

Lacey: Because you can’t annihilate a whole group of people, and almost ever be successful. I know evil seems smart to some people…but it actually isn’t.

Eric: What fundamentally goes awry, when one does that? Specifically.

*he laughs*

Lacey: People…don’t like…change. Big change. They like continuity. They like…gradual change…not sharp, abrupt, shocking changes. …For one thing. …Obliterating an entire group of people…who have existed for centuries, possibly even thousands of years…? People really don’t like that. …That’s very disorienting.

See…we’d have a horrible uproar…with the immigrants being sent to the detention centers, if established, fully legal…assimilated Hispanics were being taken. But it’s remnants, here and there. …And…for whatever reason…people aren’t as upset by that. It’s not like some huge, frightening change.

Maybe the Germans, already in the mindset to create big real changes, in the 1930’s, didn’t realize how extreme the Holocaust actually was.

Eric: Could Americans do the same?

Lacey: *thinks*

Not at the moment.

Right now we’re too…fragmented…to create some that drastic. …We’re more likely to fall apart, entirely, as a country.

The detention camps are extreme. But…there’s the precedent of the Holocaust. And other internment camps. …We’re actually mentally attuned, to the possibility. …Something new and shocking? Something creating big real change…? …I think we’re too lacking in unity. We can’t come together to create anything that…astonishing, at the moment. …In my opinion.

Eric: Has there ever been a time in American history when we could have?

Lacey: *thinks*

I think in the 1980’s…during the Reagan years…we had enough unity to do something. But…what?

Isn’t that when they started selling kids?

Eric: Yes.

Lacey: YEAH! …So…we could have solved the Climate Crisis? Or…somewhat stemmed the hemorrhaging job market, now basically dead, for Blue Collar workers. …So many things.

But…it seems like we just stupidly wandered off into a…psychotic…evil…dystopian…”Free Market” wormhole, instead.

Eric: Wormhole to wear?

Lacey: Hell? *she laughs*

The end of the world?

Maybe wormhole isn’t the right word.

Sorry.

*Later*

Eric: You were in love with Vladimir Putin? Yes?

…What’s your opinion of the current situation in Europe? They say…that…everyone is scared.

Lacey: *laughs*

*thinks*

He’s a harmless man…if you don’t cross him. He’s completely benevolent, if you don’t…totally…betray him. …He’s very even-tempered.

He’s actually very calm. Very rational.

Very…meticulous.

…To be honest, I truly think China, and North Korea…and whoever else “hates” us right now? I truly think they wouldn’t hate us…if we hadn’t been selling kids into Hell, and eating babies. To look cool.

That’s how they see us. …As completely idiotic, degenerate losers. Who owe them a lot of money.

…Even if our economy is larger? Even if we’re still “America”…we’re carrying the stain of that…embarrassment. We can’t command respect, anymore. …They see us as LOSERS.

…And we pissed Vladimir Putin off. We completely pissed him off.

With all that business with NATO?

We…made him very angry. …He got angry. For many real reasons. …And I think, combined with the sale of children? …He just decided to pull the trigger.

*she shrugs*

He just couldn’t take it anymore.

*she thinks*

Too many of his personal boundaries were crossed. …He takes his country very personally, too, so…literal physical land boundaries may be…in his head…linked with personal boundaries.

The thing is…there’s no going back.

We can’t undo all that. He can’t undo all that.

…But I don’t think he wants to harm anyone, really. He’s a very dangerous man. True. …But he’s not insane. …He’s not lacking in empathy. He’s very rational.

At least, I think.

…I don’t think it’s likely we’ll see any real…ground war…in all of Europe. I think anything of that scale is unlikely. …I can see why people might be worried, but…I almost wonder if that’s more…them refusing to be accountable for their own shit, as world leaders, than actual defense planning. …Not that them being defensive and…narcissistic…is mutually exclusive with them also being legitimately worried.

But I don’t think it’s likely. I don’t were at all likely to see much…more…dramatic fighting.

However, is it possible? Yes! …Because…they keep egging him on. In my opinion. …They keep aggravating him.

And frankly, I think Zelensky is getting tired of being used.

So…if they keep begging for some horrific war? We may have one! Sure! …They may get one, after all.

It’s not impossible.

And actually…it could go on-

The war isn’t just Putin’s personal lark. …Again, he’s a very sane, rational man. Obviously intelligent. …So…even if he dies…Russia will continue. …This is a long-term issue.

The West needs to come to two realizations:

1. You simply cannot sell kids. Ever. It’s strictly verboten, for real. …You can’t do it. …It’s perverse, and pure evil, not…sophisticated and different.
2. You can’t assume so much. …You can’t make so many assumptions!

The West…fell apart…before World War I…because they made far too many…enormous assumptions. …Far too many.

The West, over the last two hundred years…has made one assumption over another. …One dangerous assumption after another.

I think…JFK…made idiotic assumptions, often. Which is how he died, in my opinion. …But he assumed he was in the clear.

…The whole West has been like that-

Eric: Name some of these assumptions.

Lacey: I mean…the Stock Market Crash of 1929…was because of this very problem itself. People making…endless assumptions. Everyone.

And we’re still like that. When it comes to our financials. …The fiasco with Bernie Madoff and Enron, happened because, again, people kept making far too many assumptions.

…What other assumptions have we made? Dangerous assumptions?

Well, that “developing countries” in Africa and South America, can be safely shat upon. …Because colonialist countries supposedly did that. …It’s not safe. …We’ve created enemies.

And those enemies…are not necessarily enemies with Iran. Or China. Or Putin.

…I’m sure there are some very dangerous African enemies. Good luck finding them.

…Assuming national unity. Assuming Americans will never actually start another civil war.

…Assuming…Hollywood is…the root of all evil. And…this…unstoppable force to reckon with. Remember when people used to say that? *I laugh*

…No, the West has a history over the last two hundred years, of making deadly assumptions.

Eric: You don’t think we did as much before then?

Lacey: No.

…No.

The early 1800’s…were…violent. As were the previous centuries. But…they produced results.

…And maybe, even…that…is why…- Maybe…things became too heated. Maybe people started making…assumptions…because Industrialization allowed it. And encouraged it. As did American Capitalism. …And…so people started making all these emotional…optimistic…assumptions…because it was a psychological reaction to trauma. …Telling themselves that “progress” was real, and…certain.

Eric: So…you don’t think we were as optimistic? Before?

Lacey: No!

…I think the Industrial Revolution…gave literal flight to…the best ideas of the 1700’s. Of the Age of Enlightenment. …And so we’ve been in an era of soaring optimism.

*they laugh together*

Eric: Do you think that soaring optimism is coming to an end?

Lacey: Not anytime soon.

…I think it’s in our DNA.

And I think we’re determined.

…I’m not sure what will happen though. And, ironically, I worry it could even be the end of the world.