The Reader Travels

I watched a family of tiny cockroaches come out of the woodwork in my bathroom last night. They were thankful for the moisture in the baseboard next to the shower as they danced and delighted in the feast.

I used those same words, “out of the woodwork,” as the phone kept ringing this week, with friends and family calling to find out how my father-in-law was doing in the hospital. And on my own side, we had the largest Thanksgiving gathering ever, welcoming my grandfather and his new fiance, a beloved uncle, an extra nephew and a family friend.

In the year 2540, only cockroaches and savages care about family. In his disillusionment about living in The World State, the main character Barnard takes a trip to a small reservation in what once was New Mexico, where people still celebrate their culture and mourn their dead. They quote Shakespeare because art and literature are not forbidden.

Savages, all.

A few years ago I was looking for a new doctor so I could get a prescription of Nasonex, you know, for my nasal allergy symptoms? I picked a doctor based on the fact that she was in my neighborhood and worked with my insurance company, which is probably not the best way to pick a physician.

Anyway, since I was a new patient, she asked me to fill out a survey to mark all of the symptoms I might have experienced in the past year. I marked “headaches,” not that I get bad headaches or a lot of headaches, just the occasional headache. That’s normal, right?

So, when she asked me about it, I said, sometimes I clench my teeth when I’m sleeping, and I wake up with a headache. So, with a few psychological questions uncovering a family history of self medication, she decided that I too must be medicated.

I discovered that mouth guards are not the only solution for teeth clenching. There are pharmaceuticals specifically designed for this purpose. And I had the pleasure of taking them. Well, I wouldn’t actually say it was a pleasure.

I was dizzy all the time, and I really felt like I was off my game, like I wasn’t as smart or confident or in control as I was when I wasn’t on mind altering medication. I went to the doctor and told her I didn’t like taking the drugs. Intelligent woman that she was, she argued, “They don’t alter your mind, they just make it more normal.” I just looked at her like she was stupid, because, well, she was.

Anyway, I thought of this story because it just goes to show that Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World is not as far off as the year 2540. In this hopeful future society, everyone is on drugs to help mellow them out and make the world a better place. If anyone complains about their life, their friends will tell them, “Just shut up and take your Soma.”

We all just want to be “normal,” right?

What would you hope for? A universally content society? Total equality? The perfect drug? That’s what Aldous Huxley gives us in the future London of Brave New World.

Of course, the author was famous for experimental drug use. On the other hand, I’m sure he wasn’t thinking, wouldn’t the world be a better place if everyone took LSD? Because that’s just silly.

Huxley’s Soma is a beautiful invention of future pharmacology. It’s Brain Candy without the crazy, comatose side effects. And Huxley also understands that a happy person is one who is getting laid on a regular basis. So everyone does. Yippee.

As long as you don’t mind being average, your life would be grand in this future society. We can only hope.