Deborah 2

I exit the line with a medium double double (Timspeak for two cream and sugar), see Sam alone at a table. He waves, now maybe some news.
With a wicked smile, I assert, "cool joke you dudes pulled."
"Which joke?"
"Holograms of little green men."
He blushes, "not guilty. See we planned that one, were gonna have a mega toot, then called it off."
"Why?"
"Myself, The Man wanted me to start work right away. Izzy, scholarship for a year in Israel, but left already, to get a summer on the beach. Nathan, uncle dragged him along on a business trip to Amsterdam."
"Ah well ah"
"You mean the little green men showed all the same?"
"Ye-es."
He laughs, "that would be that crazy Stanley, used it to get away for a week of boozing."
"Think he'll return."
"Oh sure, unless he gets into some serious bar trouble. You know, that mouth of his, if we aren't along to keep him sane."
I know only one science fiction fan, cousin Noah. I lay out the story, ask him to speculate from a fan's perspective.
"First, any society may have some functions based on randomness, such as lottery or lotto style draft for military or jury duty. So, if it's random then it is unguessable. But assuming these Aliens are rational, or at least believe themselves to be, things must have a logical reason or they don't get done. Now, if they are intelligent enough to traverse trillions of miles of void and find the right apartment, I hardly think they would scoop Stanley for his brainpower. He did graduate in the bottom half of the class."
We both laugh.
"Neither is it too likely they are abducting the supreme specimen of macho manliness. If that were the case, they'd grab Arnold Schwarzenegger VI."
Again we laugh.
"So, what would you guess?"
"Only one idea, Justice system. Let's say in Teheran you insulted Islam or painted swastikas on the Wailing Wall or peed on the Pope's Basilica. Would you not expect a rather drastic response from the authorities?"
"I get your drift. He has perhaps falsely accused them of being kidnappers and they took umbrage. If that's the case, they'll throw the book at him."
Next I attend several Al Anon meetings. (For families; AA is for the drinkers.)
I soon discover what I was doing ineffectively. Cover for a drinker and it makes you an enabler. Means they can do more crazy stuff than if they were all alone. You are not to provoke any consequences, but neither are you to remove any. The principle being, people learn by pain rather quickly in most cases.
I file this information away as useful in the future. By now I have decided, even if Stanley reappears, it won't be in my apartment.