[There’s a long pause for a while.]
THOMAS
I don’t know what to say.
PAUL
Okay. Well, let’s start with this: who are you?
THOMAS
That’s a pretty broad question…
PAUL
Well, can you introduce yourself? Like your name, your age?
THOMAS
I don’t like my name. Or my gender. Or my body. I don’t like any of it.
PAUL
Okay, that’s a start. Why don’t you like your name?
THOMAS
I… um… I don’t like to think of myself as a ‘doubter.’ But that’s who I am.
PAUL
Well, hey, I’m a skeptic too. I think we all are to some extent on the inside.
THOMAS
I guess.
PAUL
Ugh, I hate “I guess.” It’s the worst, least informative thing anybody can say.
THOMAS
[in a quiet voice.] Ok, sorry.
[a pause emerges.]
PAUL
Um, but that’s interesting, that you think of yourself as a doubter, but that’s a point of inner tension, eh? What makes you believe that you shouldn’t doubt? And what do you doubt? (Actually, that would’ve been the better question to ask first…)
THOMAS
So… what do I doubt?
PAUL
Yeah.
THOMAS
I doubt that you actually like me. I doubt that anybody does. I think people are just polite, but… ultimately selfish.