160. Freedom and Drama

A husband and a wife are talking at home. The husband is attending the Family Management course.

Husband: Here, see these. A declaration and a consent form.

Wife: What are these for?

Husband: Both are from my class at NILS. The declaration is from a girl who has just broken off her wedding. She had some serious commitment phobia to begin with and had been postponing her wedding to her boyfriend for four years now. But now she has called it off.

Wife: Yes, you told me about her. She came under the influence of another classmate – a married woman – who told her that marriage is a horrible thing.

Husband: Not only influenced, but semi brainwashed. And now she had been saying that the course had convinced her that married life is bullshit. The teacher wanted to wash his hands off and asked the girl to give it in writing that this is her personal decision entirely.

Wife: This declaration is her writing?

Husband: Yes. Read it. She says that she has taken the decision herself and was not influenced by anybody.

Wife: What are you doing with this?

Husband: She gave a copy to everyone in class.

Wife: What? Is she crazy?

Husband: No. She is free. At least that is what she believes.

Wife: I see. And what is this consent form about?

Husband: There is a script writer in our class. She writes for TV series. She is so fascinated by our course that she wants to write a series based on a family management course and its participants. And she wants to incorporate bits of all our backgrounds in the story. With changed names of course. The consent form is for that.

Wife: She wants to write a story on the course?

Husband: Not just a story. She says if she brings in all that she has seen and learnt in five months in class and adds to them the various stories of the family backgrounds of participants, then she has a story to last a couple of seasons at least, if not the whole series.

Wife (surprised): Really? What did she find so fascinating about the course?

Husband (shrugging): Beats me!