Star Trek: 10 Life Lessons You Can Learn From Worf
2. Love And Marriage Is A Partnership Of Variables - "You Are Cordially Invited" - (Deep Space Nine)
This was a really entertaining episode of Deep Space Nine. Not only did we get to see the wedding between Worf and Jadzia Dax (which was a good paring, admittedly), but we also saw aspects of Worf's personal life, his interactions with his son, Alexander, as well as his friendships with his crewmates and even General Martok, his recently acquired brother. It's a massive cavalcade of familial interaction that also includes an example of a long-time married couple (Martok and his wife, Sirella) for us to compare the newlyweds to. But that's pretty much what marriage is. Marriage is a whirlwind ride of ups and downs, shifting priorities all caused by family. You and your spouse are supposed to be each other's greatest supports, sharing in each other's joys and becoming the soft place to land in times of crisis. When children inevitably come along, they become the number one priority and you wind up pulling out all the stops for them. In-laws cause the greatest of relationship stresses, not to mention the demand of friends who are trying to figure out where they fit in your new married pantheon. Sure enough, Worf has to contend with Sirella's disapproval of not only him, but the alien Trill he will marry and somehow sully the Klingon purity of the House of Martok. He also has to make his friends realise their importance in his life by giving them special places in the wedding ceremony. He also has to contend with including his son, who he has largely ignored in the past, by making him his best man. Worf's got a lot on his plate in this episode. Still, Worf manages to circumnavigate all of the obstacles with ad hoc ease, demonstrating to us that marriage isn't something that you plan out you deal with everything as it comes. It's not like there's a rulebook that you have to follow. It's a process of give and take, using carefully applied judgement, taking context into account and above all, consideration for the other person in the partnership.
John Kirk is a Teacher-Librarian and currently a History/English Teacher with the Toronto District School Board.
But mostly, John teaches Geek.
Comics, Sci-Fi (Notably Star Trek), Fantasy and Role-Playing and table-top games all make up part of John’s repertoire, There is a whole generation of nerds-in-embryo who rely on him to make sense of it all, to teach that with great power comes great responsibility, that the force will be with us always and that a towel IS the most useful thing to have in one’s possession.
When John isn’t in the classroom, he can be found in his basement writing comic reviews for www.popmythology.com and features for Roddenberry Entertainment's www.1701news.com.
