Thursday 8 September 2011

Blood curdling screaming

Still from the classic Next Generation
episode "Darmok"
Lately Emily has exhibited some odd behaviours. Last night on the way home from Helen's, we had to make a detour from our normal journey home to get some food at Sainsbury's for dinner. We took the normal route home, and then made a right turn where we'd normally go straight.

On turning right, Emily started sobbing and mumbling what I could only make out as gibberish and then... she stopped and let out a fog-horn style scream. 

What I get from this is she's trying to communicate through the gibberish and when I couldn't understand her, she got frustrated enough that she let out the scream. I tried to console her by saying, "it's good you're talking and communicating, but I can't understand you!" Obviously this worked like a lead balloon. 

I felt like Captain Picard in that famous Star Trek Next Generation episode "Darmok" where the universal translator failed and he was left to his wits to understand the Tamarian captain Dathon, who keeps muttering incomprehensible gibberish "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra".

Picard had to persevere and finally found a way to communicate; I just had a bellowing child who was only consoled by singing to her. I guess in a way, although I didn't understand what Emily was trying to communicate, I at least knew how to console / distract her... and no phasers were needed.


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