I think I had an allergic reaction to either the soap or her hair because I kept itching. I told her about this and she said sorry, but she didn't have any other soap.
She then started talking about why she didn't understand why earth men had such a problem with wearing things like skirts and other things I saw in that box. I told her there were Deuteronomic commands against wearing women's clothing and I was probably breaking it now and wouldn't have if she'd told me about the compartment. She said that was a disposal chute and then started talking about how men wore kilts. I argued that was different but she kept saying it wasn't, that males on her planet think it's perfectly fine to wear skirts and they're not gay or anything. I argued that the colors are not manly, so she argued that Korean men wear colorful robes for ceremonies and it's no different, and plus she picked read and green instead of pink. She said it "was only fabric." And then she said that it's not comfortable for her people to wear a lot of clothes and her people have tails, so skirts can be ideal. I argued that I didn't have a tail so the point is moot. She kept going at it, so I gave up.
I watched cable some more. She told me there wasn't much earth food on the "station" and that it's "good that I have my implant." I asked how could that be when we're only a few miles from earth, so she says the station has better refrigeration than earth and there's a freezer that contains enough food to feed a hundred people for three years. I asked her how many people were onboard and she said barely a sixteenth of that amount, and that they had a farm of sorts onboard as well. And she offhandedly mentions that nobody on board likes earth food.
I asked her if I could take a look outside. I'd been too angry to think about it before, but now that I had eaten something and had clothes on, even if they weren't a good fit, I was feeling better, so I asked. She took me down the hallway to a round chamber with a single chair in the center. The room was pretty well featureless except for that chair, which had all kinds of devices attached to it, I presume for controlling the ship.
The walls all displayed a view of space. I figured they were either monitors or some type of glass.
Apparently we were already close to to Jupiter. I could see it up ahead. It was huge, and Sigma told me it wasn't even that close to us. She said that it fills up the entire office window and you can see all the storms and satellites moving around. I said it sounded cool.
Then out of the blue she starts asking me these religious questions. Kind of awkward to be talking about that dressed in women's clothing but I tried not to think of it. She asked me what good my faith was when I behaved more or less like other people she knew with no religious convictions. I briefly explained the whole thing about how my religion is for lost sinners and how the Great Physician came to earth to heal the spiritually sick, not the "healthy", and that there's a comfort, and a peace in that. That made her quiet. She finally asked why I followed some of the rules but not others, like hitting people and calling them bad names and cussing, but I refused to sleep with her or wear a skirt. So I gave her a short speech about how the Christian faith walk was a contradiction, that we're in constant need of grace and of the Holy Spirit to guide us in righteous actions that we ourselves don't have the power to perform. At that point I felt compelled to say I was sorry, and I said I hoped she'd forgive me, as I'd be asking Jesus for forgiveness as well. I basically did that to "pitch a sale" so to speak, and to sort of cover over the fact I contradicted my own words I'd said to her a few days ago about loving my neighbor and all that.
She was quiet again, and we just watched Jupiter get closer.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
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