Problem

281 Problem

The two men caught up in the University’s library.

“How’s that problem of yours going?”

“It isn’t.”

“Sorry to hear that.”

“Me too.”

“You’ve had it a long time.”

“I have, I just don’t know what to do about it.”

“Have you tried ignoring it?”

“I have.”

“Any good?”

“No, not really.”

“You could always pretend, of course.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, just pretend that the problem doesn’t exist.”

“Oh! Yes, I see what you mean.”

“Give it a go.”

“I have.”

“Any luck with it?”

“Sadly, no.”

“OK. I think you need to move on to the next step.”

“I do?”

“Yes.”

“What is it?”

“It’s not easy.”

“I’m sure I can give it a go.”

“It’s called the denial stage.”

“Right. How does it work?”

“Well, you deny that you have ever had a problem in the first place, or that you ever tried to ignore it, or that you ever pretended that the problem was gone, when it wasn’t.”

“Oh! I see.”

“You could probably give that a go, if you think you’re up to it.”

“You know; thinking about it right now, I’m sure I have tried doing that.”

““You have?”

“Yes.”

“Well… that leaves the ‘other person’ stage.”

“Other person?”

“Yes. You convince yourself that some other person has the problem, that they denied that they ever had the problem in the first place, that they tried ignoring it, that they pretended that the problem was gone, when it wasn’t, and it all has absolutely nothing to do with you.”

“Wow! Does that work?”

“Wouldn’t know.”

You’ve not tried it then?”

“Me? No! People have been known to go mad trying to do that!”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *