Shoes

 Herself speaks.

I am plowing through all the seasons of Star Trek: Voyager, one episode at a time, while using the treadmill for exercise. When I was younger, I did not quite understand Captain Janeway (and, in fact, found her to be a bit abrasive), but now that I am over 50, she is much more comprehensible. I like her as a Captain, very much. Well done, Captain.

I encountered one episode this week, however, that I just could not watch. I skipped to the last 5 minutes to make sure all was resolved, and then fast forwarded to the next episode. I won't go back and try to watch it again. What type of episode is unwatchable, you may wonder? 

The gist of the episode was this: an alien who was capable of shape-shifting, took the form of one of the crew and pretended to be them. AAAAAAAAAAH NO THANK YOU.

I'm not quite sure why Prince-and-the-Pauper/Freaky Friday/other such place-switching stories are so very horrifying. It's almost a visceral reaction for me. I think that the problem I have is that I cannot suspend disbelief long enough, to imagine that it would ever be at all possible for one person to have the knowledge and ability to impersonate another person so thoroughly. Each person's information and experience is completely unique to them, and the very idea of attempting to "be" someone else, with a goal of fooling other people, is nauseating. 

Perhaps part of my dislike of such plotlines, too, is due to the fact that I have so much trouble putting myself in other people's shoes. If I cannot imagine how other people think, there is absolutely no way I could ever understand how impersonation is possible. It's just... not, as far as I can see. 

It's a weird little quirk, I know. Fortunately, that episode is behind me. Onward, to other frontiers.