Solomon's Private File #64
These stories about Stephen and Solomon take place starting in
1950's. Stephen wrote about his life in letters to a penpal, and then
in a secure blog, in case he lost his memory again, in the master
computer in his school for gifted students, which he started attending
in 2016 in a new incarnation, until his death. Now his son Solomon is
attending the same school, and is writing in his own secure blog for
his future incarnations.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
Solomon is 15 in this story, in the Fall of 2041.
Solomon's Private File #64 "A New Day for New Friends"
START Page
I said to the President of CNN, "A press conference. I have an
important announcement to make regarding the Middle East. No, I didn't
cause it, I was practically shanghaied to do this." He grinned and
said, "Telling us first?" I said, "Yes. Al Jazeera next. Schedule the
event in cooperation with them." He said, "You won't tell me what it's
about?" I said, "For most of the world, it's a good thing. It doesn't
involve Iran, but if they have a fit about it, those concerned with
this would be overjoyed." He laughed, and said, "Doesn't help much." I
said, "Give it a few hours. The other network should be contacting you.
Where to physically hold the news conference is the main issue now. Er,
the first one. The principles want it played up in the media big time."
He said, "You'll do transport?" I said, "As usual. That's me, the
friendly transporter." He said, "In the Qatar studio. We'll tie into
their feed, with their permission, with our language captions. You
transport our reporter and crew. Your own link to our setup?" I said,
"Yes. Will do." He said, "Going to have humor?" I said, "They actually
want that!" He grinned.
I asked to meet with the manager of Al Jazeera in Qatar. He said, "To
finally meet you in person!" I said, "Er, yes." He said, "I've
embarrassed you." I said, "A little. It's going to get much worse,
soon." He grinned and said, "That is why you are here? To make an
announcement?" I said, "Well, I wasn't going to dance on your desk. But
you." I said, "Everybody says that!" He said, trying not to laugh, "You
must accept what you cause." I said, "I didn't come here for wisdom.
concerned want it big in the media. Maybe I should eat more." Chuckles.
He said, "Is it good news?" I said, "For most, I think so. For some,
no, which really pleases those who want this." He grinned and said, "I
like this." I said, "I already knew that." Chuckles. I said, "I should
tell you I didn't caused this. I'm just being used." He said, "But you
think it is a good thing." I said, "Yes. I've told CNN to expect your
call. They want to use your feed with credit, and also have their own
team here in your studio for home interest. There are a LOT of people
in America who will have a lot of interest in this. Surprise is good,
too. I will provide transportation." He said, "Why use us?" I said,
"That I like you isn't enough?" He had a mix of emotions. I said, "Like
CNN, you are NECESSARY for the world. And this involves your area. And
sharing is good. Humility in a newscaster. Is that allowed?" He had to
laugh. I said, "Set up with CNN for the best time for the live event,
for no earlier than a week from today. They are expecting your call.
When that is established, I'll go to each of you to record promotional
clips for occasional broadcast." He said, "As expected, you plan well."
I said, "Practice embarrassment so early before the event?" He grinned
and said, "If necessary, yes." I growled. We hugged, and I ported away.
I recorded in different languages, "Greetings. I am Solomon, son of
Stephen and Rose. I've been asked to make an announcement. That's what
I'm announcing now. That's right, I'm announcing that I'm going to make
an announcement. That would be a different announcement than this one
that I'll be making, that I'm announcing about now. You might want to
know who asked me to make this announcement. Nobody did. The
announcement I'm making now is my idea. The announcement this is about,
is their idea. They think it's a good one, and important. I do too. So
good, I'm making this announcement about that announcement so you will
know about it before then. Thank you for trying to understand what I've
said." I gave that to the two parties, also saying I'll be doing more
of them, and they liked it. Networks ran it, and it generated a lot of
different comments. Mostly from the news people who had no answers to a
whole lot of questions.
The next day, I said, "Greetings. I am Solomon. There have been some
questions asked of the media about my announcement of an announcement.
Please don't ask them. Their jobs are stressful enough, without
everybody asking them questions they can't answer. They don't have that
information. You know it's bad, when reporters resort to asking each
other about the news, over and over again. Like a dog biting its own
tail, but without a mouth full of fur. Oh, but a NICE dog. No, they
aren't dogs for real. It was just a comparison. But I like dogs very
much, so I thought of them then. I hope they don't feel insulted. Oh,
the reporters. Dogs wouldn't understand." That caused a wide variety of
reactions, from confusion to laughter. Even the reporters had and
showed those reactions. My two clients went almost hysterical about it.
The PM called me, and said, "I didn't expect this!" I said, "Good.
Nobody did. Not even my mother. Anyway, you want attention for the real
announcement, you WILL have it." He said, "Might not live up to your
pre-announcements." I said, "We'll work on that." He said, "Will you
release any more comments?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Could you tell me
what they will be?" I said, "No, I can't even tell myself that. I don't
know. I'll probably think of something when I need to. I sense some
disappointment in your strained silence." Chuckles. I said, "It depends
on how things are at the time." He said, "Oh. Like all comedians, you
play off the audience." I said, "Dogs, too." Chuckles.
Two days later I said, "Greetings. I am Solomon. I'm announcing that
I didn't publish a comment yesterday. That announcement isn't about the
announcement that I made the original announcement for. But that coming
announcement could have more announcements about it. Those who asked me
to make that announcement, asked me to do it my way. That was actually
why they asked me to make the announcement that I will be making. For
some possibly unknown reason, they were very curious about how I would
do that. I have to tell you, so was I. And I still am. How they feel
about it now, well, I'm afraid to ask them." That caused a lot of
expectation, and other comments.
The next day I said, "Greetings. I am Solomon. I think I'm going to
have to disappoint some people. The coming announcement is NOT about
chocolate. Oh, I disappointed myself with that. And it's not about
aliens. I haven't asked any aliens how they feel about that. Hmm, wait
a minute. I see. They don't care. It IS about people. They know that.
Well, people would. Not dogs, though." That earned a lot of smiles, and
more speculation.
Two days later I said, "Greetings. I am Solomon. I like to have
friends. I like to make friends. Making friends is not like taking a
leg from there, and an arm from here, and a head, well, we all have to
get ahead in life. Then screwing them all together? No, friends are
already made. They just have to know that. It's good to have friends.
It's great to help friends to have more friends. Dogs can be very good
friends, but they aren't very good at giving advice. People do that
much better. Not much fur, though. So, how do you have a real friend?
You do that by being a friend. That involves shared ideas, shared
feelings, shared respect, and shared love. I would like to think that
also involves shared humor, but with one like mine, well, that could be
a little difficult. But I have found friends who do really like my
humor. I know, strange, isn't it? They will be with me when I make that
announcement. I'll tell you when that would be, in the next
announcement about that announcement." That comment, while not as
funny, drew a lot of positive comments from practically everybody,
although some winked at the screwing part of what I said in the English
version. Some schools played what I said in classrooms. I got a call
from the King himself, who said, "I see what you are doing now. Your
last statement was beautiful!" I said, "Thank you. There is more you
might not know about. Many schools throughout the world played that in
their classrooms. I made it so they would do that, and when the time
comes, you will be linked to that. Really improved favorability." He
said, "Wow!" He chuckled and said, "I know. You hear that a lot." I
said in English, "If I had a toe for every wow I get, I could never be
defeated." He laughed loudly. Hawk took a very long time to recover
from that one.
Two days later I said, "Greetings. I am Solomon. Just so you know,
I'm almost the same Solomon I was when I talked about having friends.
I'm different now because I'm two days older. That's not really
unusual, because we are all two days older. I think I should include
the nights with them, so they can get some rest. Being a day for a long
time can become a little stressful. These two days are important. Even
being just one day older is important. That's because of the change
that makes us not the same as we were. Some of that change we can
choose for ourselves. That actually makes a new day VERY important,
because some new decisions we can make could be very important, too,
and they could change our lives very much for the better, and the lives
of many other people, too. I like new days. Tomorrow is a new day I'm
going to really love. It's about friends and decisions. Good friends
and good decisions. We think this new day will be good for the people
who are involved, and their friends. We would like to think it can be
the start of something good, for many people, for a great many days to
come. Oh, and nights. Let's not forget those. I like stars." I gave the
date and time, and the networks. There were a lot of interesting
reactions to that, including a lot of speculation. Nobody guessed
correctly what it was going to be about. Some schools played what I
said. I received good comments from both governments.
I ported Don and the CNN crew to the Al Jazeera in Qatar. I set up
the live link through the 4th to their HQ in Atlanta. Don said to me,
"I'm very annoyed with you!" I just grinned, while all the news crews
nodded in agreement. He said, "My boss wouldn't tell me what this is
about." I said, "Strange if he could. I didn't tell him." He said, "I
guessed that!" I said, "Leaks. I don't like being a plumber." He just
the strangest buildup I have ever heard of." I said, "Good. Sure got
your attention, while I was putting some good things in it." He said,
"Yes, to both." I announced to all the crews, "I'll be speaking in
English, because my two groups of guests speak different languages, but
they both know English, too. I can do translations if you like. I see
you exercising your necks. They aren't here. I'll port them in later.
Yes, dramatic. You are required to like that, aren't you?" Grins, nods,
and chuckles.
I said, "We need some more chairs." I ported in some fancy but
comfortable chairs, on the dais I had put there. I sat on a stool
between them. They set up the cameras to work with that arrangement.
They counted down the time. When the active camera light came on, I
said, alternating between English and Arabic, "Greetings. I am Solomon,
son of Stephen and Rose. I'm speaking from the studios of the Al
Jazeera network, in Qatar. I will be speaking in English now. Your
various networks and stations will probably be providing their own
translations. They might have some difficulty in working with my
strange humor. I hope it doesn't sound too unusual, but please don't
fault them for that. I am here today to announce the beginning of a new
friendship. A short time ago, the King of Saudi Arabia invited me to
visit with him and his government. Then, with total disregard for my
intense embarrassment, he asked me to do this. I couldn't refuse to do
such a good thing, so here I am. Oh, maybe I should tell you what was
asked of me. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia wishes to officially recognize
the State of Israel as a true nation that has the right to conduct
itself as a nation should, and that includes the right to defend
itself. I was asked to present that to Israel. I did. Then I helped the
people of the two governments to coordinate this process of becoming
friends. This they have done, and will continue to do. Before I bring
representatives of the respective governments here for you to er,
bombard with questions, I will accept some now."
I called out the name of each before they asked. Don said, "Why were
you chosen for this role?" I said, "I wasn't told why I was chosen for
this, exactly, but it was mentioned that both peoples liked and
respected me a lot, and that I am Jewish by choice, and Rabbi, and they
had an equal er, large liking for my humor. However, I do have an
opinion on why. They might have liked that I value all religions. They
might have been concerned that Israel could have doubted their
sincerity. I am able to sense emotions. They are very sincere, and
truthfully friendly, and I have to say I really love that!" One asked,
"Why now?" I said, "There is a time for everything that happens. That's
what His Majesty said. And here we are. A new day brings many changes,
if we have the courage and will to do it. What wasn't done in the past,
is gone. It's the future we are building now. Building friendships.
Actually, that's already happening. These two countries and cultures,
and even the two religions, have a lot in common, more than with most
other countries. They share holy things. They are both the centers of
great religions. They are the Children of Abraham. They are not far
apart geographically. They share similar relations with some other
countries. I don't see any reason why they should not be friends. And
language is not a barrier for their government. The top level have
learned Hebrew. I er, helped a little with that. I think this could be
the start of a beautiful friendship. I urge all other nations to follow
their example, and be true friends to all. I could say more of what was
said to me, but I think it would be best, and much less embarrassing
for me, to have them say it themselves."
I stood, and my stool vanished. I ported in the Israeli President and
PM, and the King and his Foreign Minister. I announced them, King
first. Royalty is always announced before elected leaders. They knew
that in advance. I hugged each of them. They sat, and I went to a
corner out of the way, and sat on my newly reappearing stool. Some
cameras followed me, but most were on the new people. The King started
by praising me. I sighed, and covered my face, causing some chuckles.
Then he spoke like he had in our meeting. He was great! A true
statesman. I could tell some were surprised at that. The Israelis were
very impressed. When the PM glanced at me, I nodded slightly. Then he
knew it was all truth. Then the President spoke. He said, "I see now
why Solomon was asked to do this. It is true we might not have fully
trusted in this process. We need to be very careful as a nation,
because there are still people who would murder all of us in a second
if they could. But we all trust Solomon, and know he would not
participate in anything negative. I can only admire the wisdom of that
choice, and he who made it, while we wonder why we never thought of it
ourselves." I yelled out, "Enough with the embarrassment, and get to
work!" They laughed well. Don almost choked.
Then there was the question and answer session. It went well, but I
interrupted to answer one. I said, "I'll take that. I would really
dislike unfriendly acts to occur because of what I have helped to
happen. That isn't just an insult to each country, but to the world,
too. And er, to me. I don't know if my feelings would be of any concern
to anybody who would want to harm my friends, but smart people should
think very carefully about that, before they try to do anything of such
an unfriendly nature." There were nods of agreement all around, and
some hidden smiles, too. There were only a few questions left. Then it
was time to end it. They all shook hands. I hugged them all in turn,
and then the King offered to hug the Israelis. They glanced at me
first. I only have them a very slight smile. They hugged well. They
tried not to react my my grin then. The director yelled, "Off air!" Don
said, "We are off, also." I said to him, "Role reversal. Did we do
well?" He said, "I see now. The other side. Not fun." I said, "Change?"
He grinned, and said, "No. Not well. Better. Better than possible,
actually. I can't imagine how it could have been improved. Well done
all! Er, oh." Chuckles. I said, "Bet you didn't think your opinion
would be so respected." He was even more embarrassed. My grin didn't
help. I fixed all that with a hug.
I said, "Anybody desiring instant transporting, tell me." They did,
and soon all were back where they wanted to be, and I was alone in the
studio with the Al Jazeera crew. The manager came in and said to me,
"It went well. Your preliminaries did well, too. I didn't expect that
while you were doing them." I said, "Er, thanks. Shouldn't you be
monitoring all the er, eruptions this should have caused?" He smiled
and said, "Yes, but politeness demanded I thank you for all you have
done for the world and our network." He wanted a hug, and I gave him
one. And then I did the same to all the crew. Then I ported to the pres
of CNN, who was waiting for me. He said, "I forgive you for not telling
us in advance. You handled it VERY well, the announcement of the
decade." I said, "Thanks, but the decade is young." He said,
"Opportunity for you to do more and bigger." I gave him a rude noise,
and waved, and ported home, while he was chuckling.
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Grant
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