Jordan: This is going to be cool.
Ricky: Not all that cool.
Angel: Yes it is.
Ricky: Why?
Angel: They are going to try to convince you of the truth. It’s never happened before.
Jordan: And when they finish, it will be you who decides.
Ricky: Yeah, really fun.
Angel: Come on, when have we ever had such a chance?
Ricky: It won’t matter anyway. Who cares.
Jordan: What’s with you? Of course it matters. It has to, that’s the rule.
Ricky: Rules are meant to be broken.
Angel: Here they come.
Rick: Hi kids.
Richard: I hope you are having a good evening.
Ricky: It’s okay.
Angel: We’re glad you made it in time. It looks like this will take a while.
Richard: Oh, I don’t see why. The winner is obvious.
Rick: Yeah, everyone knows who will win. I’m the best compromise.
Angel: Compromise between what?
Rick: Between fun and money.
Richard: You don’t know money at all Rick. As time has passed, I’ve learned more about money than you could possibly know.
Jordan: Let us not get started out of turn. The rules say we wait until Ricky is ready for you to start.
Ricky: I’m ready.
Rick: See, he’s a sharp one.
Richard: I’m not so sure, we want to know that he will be listening, no need to rush. We don’t even know how the rules will work yet.
Jordan: How about you all say your piece, Ricky decides, and we have dinner.
Angel: No, they have to let Ricky ask questions too. And participate. Just making speeches isn’t going to really come to an answer.
Jordan: But then dinner will be later.
Ricky: We can eat while we talk. We make the rules.
Rick: There you go kid, just make it work.
Richard: Indeed, we could be finished more quickly if we proceed during dinner.
Angel: So how about we make it like this, you two talk along with Ricky. You talk about it and make your points and Ricky can decide.
Jordan: Naw, don’t do that. Just make it simple, you talk, Ricky decides.
Angel: But then we never hear Ricky’s point of view.
Jordan: They don’t want to hear his anyway.
Rick: Nonsense
Ricky: Alright, enough. We’ll just talk about it. Stay on topic. The question is, should I be a nerd or not?
Richard: Fascinating.
Angel:
Rick: It worked well for me. I’m doing great so far. And you, Richard, you seem to have gotten further because you were a nerd in school.
Richard: I certainly got a long way, I will admit to that.
Rick: So being a nerd made a difference.
Richard: Perhaps
Ricky: But was it fun, Rick?
Rick: Fun? I remember wanting fun when I was your age.
Jordan: Yeah, then you got old.
Rick: Not so, I still want fun.
Jordan: Right. That’s why you work sixty hours a week and don’t even have time to date. Sounds really fun.
Rick: I work hard now, so it will get better in the future.
Ricky: Which is why you think I should work hard now, for my future?
Rick: Yes, makes it better when you get done. It pays off in the end.
Jordan: Sure. So Ricky should have a horrible time now because it will eventually pay off in the future.
Rick: Right.
Angel: Well, that is one opinion. Perhaps Richard could let us know his?
Ricky: I haven’t heard him say much yet. So, Richard, tell us. Is that accurate?
Richard: I would say that enjoying life would be a worthwhile pursuit.
Ricky: So I should be a nerd?
Richard: I am not sure that follows.
Rick: But isn’t it true a lot of what you got in life you got from money?
Richard: Yes, as I said.
Rick: And being well educated, and then moving on to the business world and being even better off, that results in more money. Right?
Richard: So it would appear.
Rick: So you are agreeing with me? If Ricky wants the fine things in life, he should work extra hard at school.
Richard: If he feels those fine things would make life more enjoyable, that would be the logical conclusion.
Rick: You see Ricky, he agrees. That was easy. We can have dinner now.
Jordan: Great. If you’re going to win, at least you won fast.
Angel: Ricky, what do you think? Did he win?
Ricky: I am not sure yet. I get the feeling Richard has more to say.
Angel: Richard, what say you?
Richard: Perhaps I do. I do not mean to be mysterious, but perhaps I have more to add.
Jordan: Then on with it. You’re worse than Rick in a way. At least he said what he thinks, you keep saying “perhaps” and “maybe”. Well, perhaps we’re going to get dinner sometime and maybe you’ll have made your point by the time mom sends Ricky to bed.
Angel:
Richard: If you insist, I will share my thoughts with you. But I must warn you, my thoughts have as much worth as your own, be it great or small, we are of the same value. As are the thoughts of Rick and Ricky.
Angel: What about me?
Richard: You are a special case.
Ricky: Yes yes, of course. But what are your thoughts? If I am to choose between opinions, it would make sense for me to hear more than one opinion upon which to make such a momentous decision.
Richard: If you wish. Tell me, you ask “Shall I be a nerd”. Tell an old man who’s race is run, what is a nerd?
Ricky: Someone who spends all their time working hard on school, to get good grades.
Richard: Excellent…
Jordan: Are you always so agreeable?
Richard: Recently, yes. What have I to be disagreeable about?
Rick: What has anyone, yet the innate combative nature of life causes disagreeable remarks.
Richard: So, Rick, because this is the way things are, you label them as good?
Rick: They are good because they lead us to a better life. The people talk of combat and contest, they act out that contest in their daily lives, and because of the way combat and contest comes into our very conversations, we are and always shall be reliant upon our level of education in order to succeed.
Richard: So people talk and converse on this subject, and thus it is good because they see it as good and useful.
Rick: Well, of course.
Richard: Of course.
Jordan:
Jordan: And? We waited that long for that kind of silly nonsense?
Richard: Not silly. If the words of others have created good in this, then let them have their good feelings.
Ricky: But do you believe that?
Richard: What I believe is of somewhat less importance than you.
Ricky: So you think it’s more important what I believe than what I learn?
Richard: No. I think learning is always more important.
Rick: So you’re saying he should be a nerd.
Richard: No, I am saying he should learn.
Ricky: What’s the difference?
Richard: Your nerd would be someone who is good at school correct?
Ricky: Yes, indeed.
Richard: So, your nerd would be someone who learned what they teach in school, and has passed tests such as they give in school, and is thus well situated to show success in these areas.
Ricky: I guess so.
Richard: Then no, I do not think that I mean to be a nerd when I say you should learn. I know that I learned a great deal in school. But I also know that much of what I learned was not truly useful in teaching me to think.
Rick: Are you saying I can’t think?
Richard: No, I am saying that school did not teach you to, nor does the job you are in value thinking.
Rick: So being a nerd would help him to get my kind of job.
Richard: I suppose so.
Rick: Then you recommend he should?
Richard: If he wants your kind of job, yes.
Rick: But you had my kind of job. You don’t think it’s a good one?
Richard: It is a good one. But that does not mean he should dedicate himself to schooling, especially if such dedication is to the exclusion of all else. This, I gather, is what he means by the term nerd.
Ricky: Yes, you’re right about that.
Richard: Then I suggest that you must make your own choice, but that you should not blindly accept what is in school as the only option. There are others, even if those should cause you to deviate from the path I took.
Rick: But what sense does it make to tell him that? He has to make it through school.
Richard: Yes, he does. But until school has all the answers, he is best using his own mind to think.
Rick: But school teaches that!
Richard: So they claim. Do you find this to be the case in your schools? For yours are the same as mine, and I do not find it to be the case.
Rick: There were some classes, a few. In these, I learned to think.
Richard: Then I would suggest you could have learned to think and had more extra activities, while still doing well enough to succeed. Thus, you would not have been a nerd.
Ricky: But they say you have to spend so much time to do well in school and learn.
Richard: Yes, just like they say you must spend so much time working sixty hour weeks in order to be successful. But then, successful is a word.
Rick: A word?
Richard: Much like nerd. Successful and nerd both are similar. They both assume that one hundred percent must be spent toward one goal. They both assume failure for less than one hundred percent. Both assume their particular goal is of greatest importance. And…
Jordan:
Jordan: Well?
Richard: Both are equally unbalanced.
Rick: So what’s your answer, should he be a nerd or not?
Richard: My answer? He asks the wrong question. He must ask, what is the goal of a nerd, and what is his goal. If they coincide, then yes. Otherwise, no. From my personal experience, his desires do not coincide.
Rick: I guess you would know.
Richard: Yes.
Voice from downstairs: Ricky? What are you doing up there?
Ricky: It looks like it’s time for you to go.
Jordan:
Rick:
Ricky:
Richard: It’s not an easy decision is it.
Ricky: Of course it is. What you say makes more sense than what they say.
Richard: Of course it does. I’ve had the life that was imbalanced.
Ricky: Was it that bad?
Richard: Of course not, life is what you make. You make it what you want.
Ricky: And what would you want if you were me?
Richard: If you insist, I will answer. Learn the school information, learn to think, and don’t forget some balance in your life.
Ricky:
Richard: He has created his own life. I cannot dislike it too much. His future is my past.
Richard:
Angel: Ricky, choose your goals. Rick enjoys his life for his goals, Richard enjoyed his goals. Make up your own mind.
Angel:
Ricky:
Voice from downstairs: Ricky! Get to bed!
