Exxon Mobil Decides To See His Therapist - Part Two

Continued From Yesterday.

Exxon Mobil sat on a big leather chair. Opposite him was Doctor Dunsel, a psychiatrist.

“I am feeling good,” said Exxon Mobil.

“How so?” said Dr. Dunsel.

“I am making lots of money, more than I ever have,” said Exxon Mobil.

“And making money, lots of money, makes you feel good?” said Dr. Dunsel.

“Yes,” said Exxon Mobil.

“It affirms your self worth?” asked Dr. Dunsel.

“Yes,” said Exxon Mobil.

“And so without money, you would not feel good?” asked Dr. Dunsel.

“Well, maybe. I don’t know. No. No. Yes. I mean I would not feel good without money,” said Exxon Mobil.

“You are not certain,” said Dr. Dunsel.

“Money defines me. Is there reason for me to exist without money?” asked Exxon Mobil.

“I cannot answer that. What do you think?” asked Dr. Dunsel.

“I think it is obvious,” said Exxon Mobil.

“But why are you here? You seek to understand yourself?” asked Dr. Dunsel.

“I have all the rights that you have, that every individual has, and yet, I seem to have more power to move around and do whatever I wish to do. I move in and out of nation states without immigration papers. I move my stuff, my oil, in and out of nation states without too much difficulty from customs officials. I have money in all corners of the earth, in virtually every country. I can marshall resources in one minute that would take an individual a lifetime to match. So I am here, well, I guess I am here to confirm that this is all OK. This is all OK, isn’t it?” said Exxon Mobil.

“It would appear to be all OK for you. Is that what you are asking?” said Dr. Dunsel.

“So maybe I need not worry about all this. Maybe I need not worry if this is OK. Maybe I should just do whatever it is I wish to do, and that thing that I do is make money, make more money, and do it with oil, which is my thing. Oil is my thing,” said Exxon Mobil.

“Oil does not have to be your thing. People change. Change is good. Are you looking for affirmation to avoid change or to justify change?” asked Dr. Dunsel.

“It seems like you are not judging either decision,” said Exxon Mobil.

“I am a psychiatrist. I do not judge. You go to a priest, minister, rabbi or imam for that,” said Dr. Dunsel.

“I have no interest in consulting a priest or imam, except if it creates a good appearance. Good appearances are good for money,” said Exxon Mobil.

“I would imagine that consulting a psychiatrist would not be good for appearances,” said Dr. Dunsel.

“Yes. That is correct. That is why we shall keep this confidential,” said Exxon Mobil.

“Of course. Doctor-patient confidentiality,” said Dr. Dunsel.

“But got what I came for. I feel, if I can feel anything, that my work is oil, and that if I am an active participant on the world stage doing what I do best, then I need not change. I feel affirmed. I shall go forward pursuing oil, and only oil, and doing everything I can to make certain the world keeps using my oil and nothing else,” said Exxon Mobil.

“If that is how you see your role, and you are comfortable with that, then that is what you should do,” said Dr. Dunsel.

“I am comfortable,” said Exxon Mobil.

“Be mindful that all of us need to understand the consequences of our actions,” said Dr. Dunsel.

“Are you judging me?” said Exxon Mobil.

“No. No judgment. But you have money. You have power. It would be smart of you to understand how your actions affect the world you live in, if for no other reason than to gain intelligence so you can make more meaningful decisions,” said Dr. Dunsel.

“Meaningful decisions. What is a meaningful decision?” asked Exxon Mobil.

“Well let me ask you. What do you think it means?” asked Dr. Dunsel.

Exxon Mobil sat there for a moment. He did not know what to say or how to interpret the concept of meaningfulness. He would make his own meaning, wouldn’t he? Shouldn’t he?

“Time is up. We can discuss this next time when you feel you need affirmation again,” said Dr. Dunsel.

Good, Exxon Mobil thought. Enough of this. This conversation was over for now.

| Stumble it! |

No Comments »

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

Leave a comment

Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>