Daily Dialogue: The Folly of Superstition
Gloria
What do you want from life?
Ramona
The same thing everyone wants, I guess. Happiness and a quick death.
Gloria
What do you want from life?
Ramona
You just asked me that.
Gloria
I know, and I don’t believe you.
Ramona
What’s not to believe?
Gloria
Happiness can be anything. Does rape make you happy?
Ramona
Of course not.
Gloria
It makes some people happy.
Ramona
Well, they’re fucked-up and not me.
Gloria
What makes you happy, then?
Ramona
I don’t feel comfortable saying.
Gloria
Why?
Ramona
Because…
Gloria
Are you superstitious?
Ramona
What’s that have to do with anything?
Gloria
Are you afraid to say what makes you happy because you’re afraid that it might be taken away from you?
Ramona
Who isn’t?
Gloria
A child. For some reason, the older someone gets, the more superstitious they become. Kids joke around with stepping on cracks to break their mothers’ backs. Adults make sure to avoid cracks. And adults are supposed to be the smart ones.
Ramona
It’s easy to understand, though.
Gloria
No, it’s not. Being afraid of fire is easy to understand. Being afraid of the number 13 isn’t.
Ramona
But it’s unlucky all over the world.
Gloria
How do you feel about the number 88?
Ramona
I don’t feel anything towards it.
Gloria
In Japan, it’s the unluckiest number in the world.
Ramona
Why?
Gloria
It doesn’t matter. What does is that knowing that superstitions are pointless. How can you want happiness, yet be afraid to admit what makes you happy?
Ramona
Because it might get taken aw–
Gloria
How? How is it gonna be taken away? The faeries hiding in the wood that you knock on?
Ramona
What?
Gloria
Knock on wood. That’s about faeries who wait for any opportunity to mess up your life. Knocking on wood keeps them tucked away.
Ramona
Oh. That’s stupid.
Gloria
So is staying mum about your happiness. Are you ashamed of it?
Ramona
No! No one should be ashamed of what makes them happy, short of pedophiles and the like.
Gloria
Then say it.
Ramona
But… But it might–
Gloria
If you fucking say that it won’t happen, I’m gonna beat you with my shoe. Can’t you see how irrational you’re being?
Ramona
It’s not irrational.
Gloria
Yes, it is! You’re practically afraid of your shadow!
Ramona
I’m not nearly that bad.
Gloria
Then tell me one thing. One thing that’ll make you happy.
Ramona
I… I…
Gloria
One thing, Ramona. It won’t go away just because you say its name.
Ramona
…getting who I always wanted.
Gloria
Who is he? Or she?
Ramona
She–
Gloria
Isn’t me, is she?
Ramona
No, she’s an abstract. And you’re not my type.
Gloria
Good. Wait. Did you just come out to me?
Ramona
I… Wow.
Gloria
Tell me about your abstraction.
Ramona
I always liked the idea of ensnaring a woman who keeps weaving in and out of my life.
Gloria
Why, why not just take her the first time you see her?
Ramona
I like the game of it. We see each other once, for a little while, and drifting apart. Growing as people during the gaps. Coming back, finding out a little more about each other, until…
Gloria
Until what?
Ramona
Until we’re perfect for each other.
Gloria
No one’s perfect.
Ramona
I didn’t say that I wanted a perfect woman. I said that she’s perfect for me.
Gloria
What’s the difference?
Ramona
Perfection isn’t an absolute. It changes from person to person, country to country, generation to generation. Being perfect for me means that I can see past her flaws because she fits me so well.
Gloria
Those are pretty hard to find, no matter what.
Ramona
Only the best for me. Even if it takes a while.
Gloria
So, the woman who’s perfect for you would make you happy. Is she everything?
Ramona
No. I’m not so blinded by the potential of love to think that having it is the only thing one needs in life.
Gloria
What else is there, then?
Ramona
Satisfaction. Or gratitude. I can’t decide.
Gloria
Satisfaction comes from within. Gratitude comes from outside.
Ramona
Satisfaction, then. I don’t want my happiness to be dependent on more than my abstraction.
Gloria
Satisfaction with what?
Ramona
Life. Knowing that I’m living my life how I want with as little compromise as possible, with as much comfort as possible.
Gloria
Not many people get that.
Ramona
You underestimate my ambition.
Gloria
Fair enough. Your abstraction and satisfaction. Anything else?
Ramona
I think so. Everything else can fall under those umbrellas.
Gloria
What do you want from life?
Ramona
My abstraction, satisfaction, and a quick death.
Gloria
Do you hear that?
Ramona
What?
Gloria
That’s the sound of the world not ending after you admitted your happy things.
Ramona
Heh, I guess so.
Gloria
How do you feel about getting it out?
Ramona
Feels good.
Gloria
And how do you feel about coming out?
Ramona
Heh, feels good. But let’s not make a big thing out of it. It’s not like I cured cancer or anything.
Gloria
You’re uncomfortable with coming out?
Ramona
I’m uncomfortable with the fact that coming out is still something to be celebrated. There shouldn’t be… an out process. It should be accepted just like any other thing. Or perhaps that’s just my modesty talking.
Gloria
Says the woman who wants only the best for her. Is your abstraction really an abstraction, or does she have a name?
Ramona
I’d rather make one up.
Gloria
Why, because you’re superstitious?
Ramona
No, because you’ll give me an unbelievable amount of shit about her if I don’t.
Gloria
Heh, ok. Well, make up a name for her.
Ramona
Famicon.
Gloria
Thanks for making things difficult for me…
Ramona
Hey, I’d rather not spend the night washing off shit.
Gloria
Famicon, eh?
Ramona
You’re not gonna guess her.
Gloria
No, I’m not. But I’ll give it the ol’ college try.
