What is up with these guys?

“I’ve only been able to observe them from a discrete distance but they seem to me to be very strange,” reported Bejazus.

“Can you give us an example?”

“Well, ….er ……. for instance, they have this strange idea that they refer to as ‘belonging to a nation’.”

“Oh, yes, and what is that then?”

“Now, you must really pay close attention because the whole idea is so bazaar that you probably won’t believe it, but I can assure you that it is so.”

“Mmmmm”

“What they do is they split up their land into parcels called countries and do not allow free passage from one parcel to the next.”

The committee rolled up in mirth.

“You mean to say that they deliberately prevent movement across their planet?”

“Yes”.

“They must be mad”, mumbled Befuddled.

“Stark raving bonkers if you ask me”, added Belittle.

This brought a further display of overt joy and cries of disdain.

“I wonder why they do that?” asked Behumble.

“Insecurity, I think”, continued Begaysus. “They’re frightened of each other.”

“Must be a pretty difficult situation in which to live”, pondered Bewise, “and to think of all that wasted effort. My goodness, if they could just get along and cooperate they would advance into quite a civilisation; as it is they are doomed to mediocrity.”

“Now, how does it work then?” asked Bepragmatic.

“It’s fairly simple really. If you want to go and see someone who lives in another parcel then you have to get permission. When you have permission they give you a stamp in a book which you show when you reach the border. I think they call it a Visa.”

“Then you’re free to go I assume?”

“Yes, but it also depends on why you want to go. That is, the length of stay is determined by the purpose of your journey. It can sometimes take a long time to get a Visa and sometimes it is refused.”

“You don’t say.”

“What is more, some parcels punish the inhabitants of other parcels by never letting them cross into their parcel.”

“Why, in the world, would they do that?”

“I think the World is the only place in the galaxy where they do.”

This comment had them rolling in the aisles.

“Come on. Let’s get back to business”, exhorted Bepragmatic.

“Well, I propose that we ignore them for at least ten millennia for it is clear that their level of communication and cooperation will never bring them into contact with us; they just don’t have the right stuff.”

Shall we do the “They’re fucked” dance.

Yes.

“They’re fucked. They’re fucked. They’re fucked. They’re fucked. . Yes They’re fucked. . Yes They’re fucked.”

Bejazus and Bewise ambled away.

“Did you actually say that the parcels are all of different size?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Um, very peculiar.”