When I was speaking to a friend of mine from Hong Kong, we laughed when we discovered that we were both afraid of the character, Mr. Spock, in the space TV program called “Star Trek”.

My friend was afraid that Mr. Spock would jump out of the television and grab him. He refused to watch the television for a whole year because of this fear. But soon my friend became hooked to the program; just like the rest of us.

Myself, I had a tremendous crush on Mr. Spock. I spent ages daydreaming about our romances. But that didn’t stop me from also being afraid of the stern looking man with the peculiar ears.

Unfortunately for Mr. Spock, the people of Utopia-non felt the same way towards the Vulcan. They couldn’t exactly deny him entry to their planet; after all Mr. Spock was the friend of Captain Kirk.

Actually the people also had a reverence towards Mr. Spock. You see the people were under the mistaken impression that he was also the great baby doctor, Dr. Spock. In case you don’t know your history, Dr. Spock wrote some very sensible books on how to raise children during the fifties and sixties of the twentieth century on the planet, Earth.

Most Earth parents abandoned the teachings of Dr. Spock but not the people of Utopia-Non. To them, this doctor was the best thing since sliced bread.

And to them, they thought Mr. Spock of the Starship Enterprise and Dr. Spock, the baby doctor, was the same person. It’s a wonder they didn’t throw in Dr. Seuss for good measure.

Now I don’t know if Mr. Spock was aware of this mix-up. But if you have ever watched the series of “Star Trek”, I don’t think there has ever been a scene where Mr. Spock has ever acted remotely paternal towards anyone.

The truth is Mr. Spock is very businesslike. He keeps his work on the Starship Enterprise separate from his private life.

Before he was an astronaut he was a spy.

When he stopped working on the Starship Enterprise, he became a very good photographer: mostly of tasteful women pictures.

That’s all I know about him.

But there is one thing that he has left as his immortal stamp on: The Vulcan Nerve Pinch.

Let’s say someone is choking. When someone is choking, they tend to wander off so they don’t embarrass themselves. This is the worse thing they can do. They could die.

What the first aider can do is the “Vulcan Nerve Pinch”. You pinch the choking victim on the shoulder while reassuring them to cough so that they don’t go wandering off again.

This could save the person’s life.

Now having a figure, such as Spock, who is both feared and admired is very hard to take; especially if you happen to be a child. It would be like if on Earth, Scoorge happened to be Santa Claus and vice versa.

But it made for some very well behaved kids. They knew Spock was good but he knew he was someone to be feared.

What about God? Well God is all loving and always has been.

But my impression is that God likes Star Trek just as much as the rest of my generation.

It sure beats the alternative.

And what is the alternative?

I’d rather not discuss it.