Stories for Humans

But now they only block the sun
They rain and they snow on everyone

I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It’s cloud illusions I recall
I really don’t know clouds at all

Imagine every person in a particular world has either a yellow sticker or a green sticker somewhere on their shoulder. If green, well, you talk with other Greens, listen to Green music, scroll Green social media, listen to Green podcasts, read Green books, attend Green churches. And if yellow, the same. The stickers are permanently embedded. However, it was discovered by a few that it is possible to switch, cover, or even remove the stickers entirely. This discovery has resulted in a great deal of angst and frustration, even expulsion from the camps, and so those who have tampered with their stickers tend to go around covered up and quiet so as not to cause alarm, and for their own safety.

How is one to know the sticker colour of a new acquaintance? There are certain key words that act as signals, and these are heavily relied upon. For example, feminism. Anyone who is heard with this word either stated or whispered is known to be a Yellow. There is no doubt. Another tell-tale phrase might contain the word earth or climate. Definitely a Yellow. Or that dirty word, diversity. Mentioning empathy is another clear sign of solid Yellow affiliations.

A Green will be outed immediately with the word woke. Calling someone a social justice warrior is another clarion call to unite the Greens. A slightly more subtle but equally effective phrase is virtue signaling. Use the word snowflake and the green of your sticker will be unmistakable. A casual mention of family values is another way to identify oneself firmly as a Green, particularly in a religious context.

What the Yellow camp and Green camp have forgotten is that once there were stickers of all colours. Not so long ago on the planet there were Red, Pink, Orange, Aquamarine, Magenta, Mint, even Burgundy stickers. But then the Sorting began. These days if there happened to be a rare, tattered orange sticker it would be covered completely by a green or yellow one. Only Green and Yellow are allowed.

Unfortunately, with only Greens talking to Greens and Yellows talking to Yellows, the other hues have almost entirely faded from memory. And if you look at the stickers closely it appears the Yellow has faded almost to an off-white, and the Green is really more grey-black.

With the mere mention of a signal word, Greens run from a suspected Yellow and vise versa. Even the idea of bringing up these words to discuss if they still mean what they used to mean will snap each camp quickly into lines that resemble battle formation.

And thus a beautiful world that once held many hues, mixing and dancing and forming new, undiscovered colours as the people talked and shared ideas, their stickers blending, changing and filling the air with light and sparkle, is now dim and silent. A few words are uttered now and then, and people stand in ordered lines on opposite sides, barely daring to speak except to shout a warning or command. In recent years a crack appeared in the ground, deepening year after year to become an uncrossable, broken rift that few attempt. The path across is almost indiscernible, and loose rocks and slippery black lichen make falls and injuries likely. A few brave souls have died along the steep trail, their bodies abandoned, not even a sticker remaining to bear witness.

How did this happen? It wasn’t the talking, really, that stopped. It was the listening. Lost in their own Green or Yellow thoughts and sounds, the people only listened to themselves. And this is the way a world ends.

Oh, but now old friends, they’re acting strange
They shake their heads, they say I’ve changed
Well, something’s lost, but something’s gained
In living every day

(Joni Mitchell, “Both Sides Now”)