Pat Bean's blog

Star Trek Memories

I came across a cartoon pie chart titled “Why I drink Earl Grey tea.” It was divided into two slices, one large one and one smaller piece. The smaller of the two represented “Because I like the taste,” while the larger slice represented “Because I want to feel like Captain Picard.”

That earned a belly laugh from me. But if you’re not a Star Trek fan, you probably don’t even understand what’s funny.

Jean-Luc Picard, who through several Star Trek television series and films is portrayed as captain of the starship USS Enterprise, is a man to be respected.  The fictional character is played by actor Patrick Stewart, and his portrayal comes across as the kind of hero who deserves being looked up to. Were that there were more of these kind of honorable examples on TV than the other kind.

 I’m not a rabid Star Trek fan, as some in my family are, but I have watched many of the shows. Two stand out in my mind, which means if nothing else they are memorable.

The first of my favorites goes back to the original Star Trek television series starring William Shatner as the starship captain. It was a funny show first aired in 1967 about sweet, furry pets called Tribbles. The trouble was how fast they multiplied.

My second favorite Star Trek episode was with Jean-Luc Picard as captain of the Enterprise. He had a chance to go back and relive his life, avoiding a fight in which he had suffered an injury that later in life would threaten his life.

He went back and avoided the fight – but in his new life he never was promoted to captain. This confirmed my belief that we are who we are today because of who we were in the past.

In the meantime, the makers of Earl Grey tea, which is Picard’s favorite, are certainly getting some free publicity. The character and the actor have given new meaning to the word bald: Sexy.