(///loggerheads.ended.inadequacy – Easter Island)
“We know many things about these statues, these Moia,” the tour guide continued. “But there is much still to discover.”
The group stood in wonder as they surveyed the famous figures which had drawn them to Easter Island, snapping pictures eagerly with their phones while they waited to learn more.
“We know the Polynesians built them hundreds of years ago, but what did they truly represent? Their ancestors? Their gods? And what purpose did they serve? How did they build them?”
The tourists stood expectantly, hoping they would get some actual answers rather than a series of question they could have posed themselves.
“Maybe we will never know,” the guide continued, somewhat deflatingly. “Our inability to truly explain what we see here points to our own inadequacy. What started the civilisation here and what ended it? We know many things but not all. And what are those stone figures truly thinking as they glare back at us? Are they happy or sad, angry or peaceful? Are they content in their surroundings or are they perhaps at loggerheads with each other?” The guide chortled at his own joke. By himself.
He said little more. The group, accepting that they would learn nothing new here, instead milled around taking further pictures, but once their photo opportunities were exhausted, they were led away.
There was total quiet for a few minutes.
One head turned to another. “That loggerheads joke wasn’t funny the first time,” he moaned to his neighbour.
“He needs some new material,” his fellow head agreed.
“One day, we should just speak up in the middle of the tour, answer those interminable questions he keeps asking. We could put him out of his misery. And the rest of them.”
“They seem to know a fair amount though. Many of them keeping talking about something called Netflix and how they learned about us on there. They seem to love Netflix.”
“Netflix sounds like a very nice way to pass the time.”
His friend agreed. “I wish we had Netflix,” he said.
They were melancholy for a moment.
“I guess we have inadequacy in our lives too,” the first head said eventually.
Along the line, the other heads nodded.
Silence resumed.
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