Hot Dogs and Philosophy Pt.5
Posted on Tue Jun 30, 2026 @ 6:22pm by Lieutenant Commander Curtis Thibideaux
1,403 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Jubilee
Location: Brother Boyle's Hotdog Bus. The Promenade
Timeline: First few days of Jubilee
T'Lul held her breath for a solid few seconds. Did he suspect her plan? Did he know that her pon farr was near? How could he understand so much of her so well? It was odd. "Based on your statements, I am certain that you are aware that Vulcans do have emotions. We merely suppress them in favor of logic. We learn to do this at about 7 years old. As you also may be aware, Vulcan emotions are much more intense than those of humans. This is why Surak guided us to logic. The Romulans, though, eschewed this and broke off from us."
She decided to let her logical guard down slightly. "My concern with allowing myself to explore emotions is that it may negatively effect my objectivity for my studies." She pressed her lips tightly together as she considered revealing her most embarrassing secret, that pon farr was coming soon. No, it is too soon. It is too personal. Too embarrassing.
A tour and a half of watching politicians, admirals and hangers on had taught Curtis to read people. He noted her inhalation, holding her breath and the straightening of her back had made her even more statuesque. He debated again on ordering another dog even as he decided to offer her an off ramp, and said, "The Vulcan propensity for controlling emotion is mentioned quite often in academy." He smiled at her and said, "A valid concern, but you might be looking at it only from that viewpoint. From someone used to riding emotions out of habit, I'd counter by saying that unknown roads can be scary. Make a person...wary to just walk them. But they generally get a lot better once you've found your way. " He met her eyes. Decided against another hotdog and reached for more fries, touching them into the fry sauce.
He smiled and asked, "Have you ever studied painting, T'lul? For my part I took a painting, art-appreciation course at Academy. It was new for me. Totally new for me and I was surprised by the swell of emotion that I experienced. And that meant a lot. Understanding and then trying to figure out on my own why an artist used the paints that they did, how they applied the brush strokes adding texture that can be both seen and felt. It's like music, but by my mind it takes work to build that understanding. Music I could understand, since I play a little. Learning about painting caused me to re-evaluate other art and appreciate it more."
Moving his tray to the bin, he shrugged and grinned, "Appreciate anyway. I still don't play very well. But I do recognize layers of beauty and art more than I did as an ensign and that's served me well through the years." Realizing he still held the fries he chuckled and used them to gesture toward Brother Boyle who was still busy, serving the queue. "Speaking of art, what did you think of the food?"
T'Lul sat quietly as she listened deeply to everything that Curtis had to say. He still looked messy with all of the food on his face but his arguments had a certain amount of soundness to them. Considering her words carefully, she told Curtis, "I do not wish to compromise the integrity of my data with emotions. It would defeat the logic of the very study that would support my conclusions. Vulcans already reject or suppress emotions. Trying to justify a paper with emotions would have no weight and would compromise my credibility."
She sighed lightly. "That said, I appreciate your logical argument. What instrument do you play?" She then hastened another response, "The food is satisfactory." She gave a nod toward Brother Boyle. "Though, it is not tidy." She took another bite of her dog, this time larger, allowing some sauce to slide to the side of her mouth. She took a larger gulp of the licorice soda and then took a napkin to her face.
Grinning as the counselor appeared to fumble, just a little, Curtis said, "Emotions are like eating hotdogs. It gets messy. But it's worth dealing with the mess. You could say that about many things. Painting for instance. Music maybe less so, though I've mangled some notes in my day on my saxophone. Anything worth the time is worth getting messy with." Finishing his soda, he left it sit in front of him while he picked up another napkin.
"But failing to understand the topic fully to be merely be an observer doesn't really get you anywhere, as a scientist. Or in life, for that matter."
"I must disagree on that point," T'Lul answered definitively. "One does not have to be bacteria to study it, observe it, and understand it. Nor must one be a star to do the same. The same is true for any inanimate object. Of the animate, we certainly can study many things, as well. After all, many psychological tests involve data points accumulated from observation and natural selection." She leaned forward, keeping her eyes focused on the stimulating Commander.
"Well, there's people problems and then there are inanimate problems. Watching people from a duck blind will only tell you so much. If you're interested in perhaps understanding something about yourself then you've got to get a little dirty." Then he smiled, "Methodology does vary, though. What works for one doesn't necessarily work for the other. Although, I do likely classify as bacteria, and an celestial body, depending on who you ask."
"Methodology is an issue," T'Lul confirmed. "But why would others classify you as a bacteria or celestial body?" she wondered at the odd statement.
"Well," Curtis said with a grin. "I've been told I have a heavenly body...and been called kinda slimy and single minded." He said as he leaned an elbow on the table, smiling.
T'Lul shook her head. "That much has been evident. However, your conversation also has been stimulating, which I cannot say for most, let alone humans. "I just wonder how you believe that this sort of behavior would be attractive to women, let alone a Vulcan. It is illogical."
"It's called self-depreciating humor. Sort of," Curtis said. "But mostly I'm attempting to be funny and forgot my audience. Forgive me. Humor is emotional and can be as easy as breathing, though getting the intent without references must be difficult. But I do like to think some people think I'm funny. And emotions themselves are colored by many things and people deal with those emotions differently. And sometimes humor is just humor. And for the record, I've enjoyed our conversations too. I thought we might wander some, maybe see where our feet take us. Possibly find some dessert."
"That would be satisfactory," T'Lul answered. She took the napkin and cleaned herself off before reaching over and doing the same to Curtis. "It would not be acceptable to walk about with your face a mess from your meal," she advised Curtis. "I do understand the general concept of humor but understanding human humor can be complicated. Perhaps you could explain it more to me."
Curtis was surprised by the counselor actually cleaning his face, and he smiled as he waived at Brother Boyle and gestured toward the milling crowd, waiting for space and then heading into it. "Well, there's many different kinds of humor. It's about finding what you think is funny, sharing it and trying to convince others, if needed, to get it. For instance, me being something of a mess is kinda funny if the mustard had been left there and others saw me. They might laugh at me and if I'd done it on purpose, I'd be fine with it. Humor can also go too far..."
"That, I have observed, as well. It is another thing that I should desire to study and explore. However, first things are first, and I must get my data on emotions to conclusively support my theory." T'Lul rose, offering her fingers to Curtis, "Let us explore the promenade some more."
After a few seconds, Curtis took her by the fingertips and led her into the crowd, wondering idly at the Vulcan's familiarity. But for now, he set thinking too deeply about anything aside to just enjoy the experience.
END
A joint post by:
Lieutenant Commander Curtis Thibideax
Strategic Operations Officer
DS5
Lieutenant T'Lul
Chief Counselor
Deep Space 5
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