Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)

(hey! glad you asked! yes, the Wakefield Doctrine is gender-neutral)

Yes, as Vincent Vega said to Lance, in Pulp Fiction, “that’s a bold statement.” But true. The Wakefield Doctrine is not just a fun way to augment the time honored practice of people-watching (people-watching motto: “I say, William, although no one has yet to invent television I quite enjoy having a guide to how people will behave. Rather than taking the fun out of watching strangers interact, it positively enhances my enjoyment. And, no, since you’re asking, I have no idea why I should speak with some sort of British accent.”)

Seriously though, if you learn the characteristics of the three worldviews, (that account for the three personality types of the Wakefield Doctrine), not only will you know more about the other people in your life (both intimately, and ‘in passing’, the Doctrine offers the opportunity to gain insight into: the intensely banal thoughts of the bicyclist riding along side the road, oblivious to all except how recognizable they must appear/ the distracted mind of the girl at the convenience store, who smiles at you and yet nods at something you don’t see, her green-streaked hair somehow managing to draw attention to her army-issue jump boots (worn with a mini skirt)/ the teacher who really seems to enjoy singling you out for not having read the assignment, even when you have done the reading, he insists on finding something lacking in your understanding/ the girl that your best friend insists would be willing to go out with you, you’re totally confident when you have your friend in the room, you even got her to laugh that one time, but the thought of calling…directly and asking her out, without there being a punchline at hand to spare you the humiliation of a no/ the boss who seems to be so friendly when you happen to talk, alone in the breakroom, who’s a total ballbuster at staff meetings,  all of these situations (and the rest of a regular Monday work/school day) are more….. something-able for knowing the Wakefield Doctrine.

Try it today!  Warning!!  If you learn the characteristics of the three worldviews sufficiently to correctly identify (a person’s) predominant worldview (clark, scott or roger), they will act in the manner that you read here in the Doctrine. But that’s not the warning, (that, that first part? is actually the fun… I mean, like you’ll be all, “hey! how’d they know to say that… is this a trick?! is everyone in on this Doctrine thing? no way!! somebody must’ve put them up to it“), the Warning is that, once you ‘see’ the clarks, and scotts and rogers in your life, you may not be able to not see them.  You’ve been warned.

If you’re one of the 6 people that I ‘know’ that I don’t have an email or Facebook address for, then you might not know that Chapter 2 of ‘Almira’ is out and available to read. So, here: click on this and read. (New Readers? ‘Almira’ is a Serial Story about Dorothy Gale, (home from Sarah Lawrence College the Summer after her freshman year), and Almira Gulch, (a woman that we all thought we knew and were correct to hate), and how a person can know the truth and still not understand how different life can be for the other person. Come on and sign up and ‘Follow’ Almira. A Chapter each week, like in the Reader’s Days of Old.)

ok, real quick:

1. clarks (Outsider) the people who seem to have so much potential and yet appear determined to hobble themselves in their efforts to offer what they have, to those around them, forgetting that for most people, to accept a gift requires an acknowledged relationship, (on some level, anywhere from ‘passing on the street’ to ‘intimate baring of all’), and getting a note from the girl who sits next to the guy in the other row is not quite direct enough.
2. scotts (Predator) the one friend you love to be with and, (on too many occasions), relieved to get safely away from, these are the ‘life of the party’ and ‘the death of me’ people and they have much to teach the rest of us, but only by example. Live the moment, embrace life and run faster than the bear.
3. rogers (the Herd Member) the person who knows the right way… to live and to work and to love, (the caveat is to find out what they mean, before you try to do it with them)… they’re reasons that we’re all not huddling under the bushes waiting for a chance to get to the stream for a life-maintaining sip of water…. the reasons that the Facebook is gathering our lives and making all that information tidy and useful (for a change)