“A blind man teaching an android how to paint. That ought to be worth a couple of pages in someone’s book.” – Riker 
I have always loved sci-fi and space sciences, and as a young nerd growing up, there weren’t many people I could relate to in the shows I was “allowed” to watch. Geordie LaForge however was one. And came with a weird almost autistic best mate and had weird little sciency adventures together every few episodes where something would happen to make their relationship grow.. Elementary Stuff!

 

One of my favorite moments… when Geordi and Data are about to enter that wormhole that ends up taking them to the Delta quadrant when they think it leads elsewhere. Geordi says something like “The idea of being stuck out there for centuries is not too appealing” and Data says “There is a bright side: You will have me to talk to.”

And that’s what makes Geordi such a good friend to Data. He never decides it’s Data’s fault. He thinks of it as “I’m not getting through,” not “why can’t you get this?” He never decides that Data is just incapable of understanding. He re-words, he uses examples, he gives his own experience, he points things out, he slows down, he speeds up, he distills, he adds, he identifies what he isn’t saying right and he fixes it. And sometimes, like in this scene, it takes a while. It’s frustrating. It seems like maybe Data can’t get it. But Geordi doesn’t give up. It’s just such a good template for friendship.

 

Twice now, they’ve missed the opportunity to reunite this best of friends and each time we’re left disappointed. Here’s to hoping someone reads this and fixes it in Picard season 3!! Somebody somewhere needs to write that book!