in which i receive an unexpected gift
The guy at the checkout was putting my cereal into the bag when he leaned in and said, quietly, “Wil?”
His eyes widened, like he’d said a swear. He stopped short. “May I call you Wil?” I think maybe his voice trembled a little bit.
“Of course you may,” I said. I did my best to reassure him, put him at ease.
In the pre-mask times, I would have seen his smile. Today, I saw hie eyes crinkle up. “I. Love. Wesley Crusher.” He declared.
“Thank you!” I waved my phone over the thing to pay. Living in the future can be cool from time to time. “I love him too!” The thing made a noise indicating that payment had been accepted.
“I mean, he is my very favorite,” he said. I could tell this was important to him.
“That means so much to me,” I said. “Thank you. He’s my favorite, too.” I leaned in like he’d leaned in toward me. “Don’t tell Picard,” I stage whispered.
He smiled with his eyes again. I smiled back with my own.
“I’m so sad they’re taking all seven seasons off of Netflix,” he said.
“Me too. They’re on Paramount+ now, though.”
His posture changed, and I knew he was about to share something with me that he thought was cool.
“I have all seven seasons on DVD. I bought them in 2001. I can watch The Next Generation whenever I want to.”
“That’s awesome,” I said. “I love that you still have them. Thank you for watching our show!” I grabbed my cart.
“Have a great weekend, Mist — Wil,” he said.
“You too. Live long and prosper!”
So many things in my life are gifts, when I remember to be open to receiving them.
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The Book wrote: "...I often wish I could tell my favourite authors how much I love their work..."You should tell them! And review their work on this platform and others and give them five stars. Writing is lonely work. Speaking for myself, I appreciate every word of encouragement I get.
Over the weekend, we began FIESTA here in San Antonio, for the most part shut down due to the pandemic. On Saturday, in the midst of the 70,000+ at the St. Mary's University Oyster Bake, I saw a woman with a Star Trek Next Generation T-shirt with profiles of the cast. (The Oyster Bake theme this year had a picture of Baby Yoda proudly coming back...) I asked her who her favorite cast member way? She said "Wesley Crusher!" I asked why? She said "We're the same age! When I watched that show, I was that age and it gave me such hope not only for me, but for the future!" You're a good man, Wil Wheaton! Never let anyone tell you otherwise!
Not sure where else I could say this, but I wanted to say out of all your characters, YOU are my favorite part.You (the person, the Wil, the human soul in your meat suit) are what allows me to identify with all your characters. Whether it is Crusher, or a human so terrible that he makes monsters not as scary.
The fact that you are brave enough to put out your true self, allows me to identify with you. See that you and I have many similarities. This allows me to identify with your characters, and allows me to not necessarily like them, but gives them that humane aspect that many characters never get.
Thank you for being vulnerable and honest and thank you for sharing yourself. You have lifelong fans where I live, we aren't fans of characters, we are fans of you and are rooting for you my friend (if I may call you that). We are rooting that you find everything you need and are successful for everything you want!
Thank you.
I often wish I could tell my favourite authors how much I love their work so that when they're having a crappy day or an existential crisis they would still know they'd created something beautiful in someone else's life and maybe it would help a little.