Alice and George were back at their usual table in their favourite pub, mulling over their most recent encounter with Dragon. They’d seen signs of vegan meals and exercise equipment, and the consultants seemed to know what they were doing. But, if all that were true, why hadn’t Dragon cut back on his fuel consumption and why didn’t the air seem cleaner?
Then, at that moment, something occurred to Alice. She’d had a eureka moment! “Maybe we’re thinking about this all wrong,” she exclaimed. “We assume Dragon wants the same things as we do, but why should he? We are humans who care about our families and the planet we live on, but Dragon is just a big, fat, lazy lizard, and the only thing he’s interested in is where his next meal is coming from. He pretends to be our friend because that’s how he gets us to feed him.”
“Spot on,” said George, agreeing with this hypothesis.
“At best, his promises are conditional; at worst, he’s been gaslighting us”, concluded Alice.
Realising that he’d been taken for a ride by Dragon’s cynical behaviour, George suddenly felt incensed and shouted loudly, “So, the lesson is: NEVER TRUST A DRAGON!” Which drew confused stares from the rest of the bar. Relieved to have at least identified the challenge they were now faced with, the two friends finished their drinks and left.
