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How did Reginald Barclay graduate from Starfleet Academy?

What I just described, no one does.

Well?

Same sex marriages, sure. Sometimes?

I'm sure I saw (on tv) a lesbian wedding where both brides were given away by their fathers, arriving simultaneously at the alter.

Regardless, in TNG we saw Data give Kieko away. :)

Well, whatever makes people happy.

But for the giving away thing, it only makes sense if it's someone that raised you or took a significant part in raising you.
 
I'm sure (on tv) I have also seen a lesbian wedding were both grooms wore traditional morning suits, and no one walked down the aisle.

So yes, the customer is always right.
 
Anyone willing to spend $40,000 on a wedding has some firm opinions about exactly what is going to happen during that wedding...

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Anyone willing to spend $40,000 on a wedding has some firm opinions about exactly what is going to happen during that wedding...

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

I wonder if they ever did a mountain climbing wedding, with the ceremony at the top of a mountain, you need people in real good shape to participate!
 
As to putting academy cadets on starfleet ships in the 24th Century- I imagine it still happens, but you probably don't see them so much much on larger starships operating far from the centers of the Federation and the various locations of the academy and its many annexes. Also, for training value, its better to place cadets on smaller ships where they can do more and be exposed to more, and carry a little more responsibility than they could being lost in the shuffle of the 'small town' environment of a Galaxy Class starship.

That being said, like everything else in the Trek-verse, the plot is going to drive what actually happens.
 
Remember those casualty lists, which meant manpower shortages?

The worse the war went the Federation, the less choice they had about staffing their ships with children.
 
Remember those casualty lists, which meant manpower shortages?

The worse the war went the Federation, the less choice they had about staffing their ships with children.

That's why they had to keep Worf's son, regardless of his shortcomings. I know it's the Klingons but the same applies to them.
 
In the episode "Imaginary Friend," for example, there's Daniel Sutter whom I found to be, perhaps, more realistic than the usual TNG character. He's a single parent who's reluctantly sending his kid to a shrink. He does his job well, but he seems suitably obscure, like he's just another guy onboard. Someone like this, to me, seems much more realistic and acceptable than Barclay ever was.

But if he was a main character, the sheer amount of peril and sticky situations he'd find himself in would strip away a lot of that every man veneer if we saw him being a hero as often as the plot dictated. Unless there's plenty of quiet, non-action scenes.
 
Maybe in the future, society has just come to accept different types of neurological and psychological profiles as the expression of human genetic diversity that they are, and use the strengths that come with that form of diversity instead of pathologizing it.

So Barclay is obviously different from others. There's nothing bad or wrong about being born different. People accept other kinds of differences, so why is this still such a hurdle? :rolleyes:

Kor
 
I've worked in military RnD and as long as you know how to calculate the trajectory of a missile, know how to make a new atomic bomb, or you know how to measure how much water preassure the new submarine walls will take, they don't mind if you spend your after hours jerking off in your office or your lunch break talking to the bushes outside the reception.(True story)

The problem with military scientists is that every single one of them can go to the private sector and earn twice as much so yeah... The military will tolerate a LOT.
 
I think a more apt question is how Tucker whom by his own admission could never figure out the answers to elementary problems of arithmetic, managed to get a job as a warp field engineer. It would be like finding out that Victor Hugo failed French grammar.
 
Maybe he had a natural, Mozart-like talent for handling warp drives, and they just skipped his obnoxious teen years when he saved the ship every week.
 
He's probably incredibly smart which amongst the 'average' selection in the academy gave him enough confidence to get through on top of testing very well. Then once through and on a top tier starship that confidence of far out-stripping his classmates evaporated as he had to compete with the experienced, confident and most capable. That sudden culture shock from being the best and class academic to walking in the shadow of giants could do a lot to destroy someones ego and sense of self worth.
 
While we're talking about things hard to explain. Do you realize that the first thing that Neelix did to the crew of Voyager is lie to them and second thing is lead them into a trap? Is there something going on between Janeway and him that we should know about?
 
Maybe in the future, society has just come to accept different types of neurological and psychological profiles as the expression of human genetic diversity that they are, and use the strengths that come with that form of diversity instead of pathologizing it.

So Barclay is obviously different from others. There's nothing bad or wrong about being born different. People accept other kinds of differences, so why is this still such a hurdle? :rolleyes:

Kor
So much truth in this - and I find the acceptance of Reginald Barclay to be one of the strongest evidences of a "utopian" future in TNG.
 
So much truth in this - and I find the acceptance of Reginald Barclay to be one of the strongest evidences of a "utopian" future in TNG.

I don't think so. The crew still called him names behind his back, at the instigation of Wesley mama's boy, no less. That doesn't sound very utopian to me.
 
Did they kick him out? Did they demote or isolate him?

No, in fact in light of his erratic behavior they were rather kind and accepting, helpful even.
 
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