Don't Panic!

Day 224: "This is terrific," Arthur thought to himself, "Nelson's Column has gone, McDonald's has gone, all that's left is me and the words 'Mostly harmless.' Any second now all that will be left is 'Mostly harmless.' And yesterday the planet seemed to be going so well."

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy says that if you hold a lungful of air you can survive in the total vacuum of space for about thirty seconds. However, it does go on to say that what with space being the mind-boggling size it is the chances of getting picked up by another ship within those thirty seconds are two to the power of two hundred and seventy-six thousand, seven hundred and nine to one against.

...twenty-nine seconds later Ford and Arthur were rescued.

*****

Improbable as it might have been that I would find myself enjoying Douglas Adams' legendary Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and related novels after having given up on modern fiction almost entirely, I am happy to say that despite my reluctance, I now include myself on the list of series fans.

On the surface, the books are a fairly typical sci-fi romp, filled with aliens and fantastical adventures, but underlying the superficial theme are numerous social commentaries, reflections on the human condition and multiple levels of humour ranging from slightly rude to esoteric, and with enough of each to keep a broad audience chuckling.

I dismissed the books after an initial read, and ignored them for several years until a friend convinced me to give them a second chance. On that reading and subsequent ones, I found myself empathizing with Arthur Dent, stuck in a realm not of his own making without so much as a proper cup of tea to ground him in his new reality. His situation was one in which I've felt most of my life was spent (if on a substantially smaller scale), that of a fish out of water. In relating to Arthur, I had been drawn in by Adams' eminent skill as a writer.

Little humans that we are, there is a bit of Dentarthurdent in us all: somewhat naive and unprepared, laden with vulnerabilities yet endowed with inner strengths which surface only in adverse conditions. Too, we identify in some measure with Ford Prefect, whose open acceptance of all which befalls him gives him an equanimity we (subconsciously or consciously) hope we might achieve. In either case, the oft-heard slogan of the books universally resonates with us, as iterated on the cover of the fictional "Hitchhiker's Guide" to which Ford and Arthur often refer: Don't Panic. That's it, then. Don't Panic!

(background image courtesy of NASA under Creative Commons license)