Wake Up and Smell the Coffee Author: Clark Kent

Imagine waking up from a deep sleep and finding yourself in a strange room.  You have no memory of who you are or where you are.  Someone comes running into the room.  He is in a panic.  He tells you that you are in danger and that he is there to protect you.  Confused, you ask him, "In danger of what?"  "The evil one," he replies.  "I am the good one, I am here to save you but you must do what I tell you to do.  I cannot share with you any of the facts supporting my assertions, for that would put you more danger.  You must surrender yourself to me and I will protect you."

At first, having no idea about who you are or where you are, you trust him.  You surrender your freedom to him and he pledges to protect you from the evil one.

Each time something disturbing or threatening happens, "the good one" comes in and tells you that the evil one did it.  He assures you, however, that if not for his gallant efforts, something even worse would have happened.  You have never seen the evil one and he provides no proof that he has prevented something worse from happening, just anecdotes, names of people you have never seen and do not know and more tales of the terrible things that will happen, unless you surrender your freedom to him and allow him to protect you.

Nothing happens for a while and you begin to feel safer.  You venture outside on your own, look around the world, and things seem relatively tranquil.  In time you begin to question whether you are in any real danger.  At first you are quiet about it, but in time, tired of being under the control of "the good one," and seeking to find your own way in life, you bring the subject up with "the good one."

"Look, Good One, nothing bad has happened in some time and frankly, I want to get on with my life.  I have never seen the Evil One and I am not even sure he exists." you say to the "good one."

"Trust me!" says the "Good One".  There is danger all around you.

Later that day, as you walk out of the place you find yourself living in, a stone falls as you open the door.  The stone falls on your foot.  It hurts badly, but things could have been worse.  It could have fallen on your head.  There is an inscription on the rock reading, "Complements of the Evil One."

Convinced that the evil one really is a threat, you trust in "the good one", at least for a while.  Once again, nothing bad happens for a long time and you begin to wonder if the rock was just some strange random event.  "Perhaps I've attributed more significance to this than I should have," you muse.  Once again you begin to defy "the good one" and go about creating a life for yourself.  The "good one" notices that you are not heeding his warnings and accuses you of working for "the evil one."

"I'm not working for the Evil One," you reply.  "Indeed, I've never met him.  I simply don't believe there is any real danger and I intend to have my own life.  Thanks for your help, but I'm out of here!"

You leave your abode, take a stroll down the street, and everything seems just fine.  A few days pass.  You are walking through a park and the swish of a bullet whispers into your ears.  A bullet has just missed your head and strikes a jogger running nearby.  As a crowd forms around the jogger, everyone in the crowd begins muttering to each other about the Evil One.

"Well, perhaps there is an evil one, after all!" you think.  You return to your abode and "the good one" is waiting there for you.  He says, "So, the evil one tried to get you again.  Will you follow my advice next time?"

You acquiesce, again.

Your neighbor comes over to visit and begins talking to about his doubts concerning the evil one."  You explain your own observations and assure him that there really is an evil one.  He leaves unconvinced.  The next day an ambulance pulls up to his house and his body is taken away.  Some strange accident befell him.

The pattern strikes you.  You are now convinced that "the evil one" and "the good one" are one and the same.  As you leave to tell the world, a rock falls when you open the door.  This time it strikes you on the head.