Chapter 10: NO "CASE" ON POST

Any Scientology staff member or Sea Org member is very familiar with the Hubbard policy which states that no staff member is to dramatize or have “case” on post. “Case” in Scientologese is anything in your mind, weather that be from the past or the present, that would hinder or impinge upon you, the being, and should be taken up and handled in an auditing session. In other words, anything emotional for you that would distract you from doing your job effectively is to be put aside and saved for your auditing or counseling sessions. Included in the “no case on post” clause is, “No HE&R” - human emotion and reaction. Scientologists, per Hubbard, due to having the only true answers to life, the universe and everything, are considered to be way above that of “Homo Sap.” Scientologists are in the realm of Homo Novice - a new super race of beings, capable of using Scientology technology to free mankind from the “Trap” we find ourselves in, in the physical universe. On staff and in the Sea Org, anything deemed or considered to be “human,” such as emotions and reactions, are to cease to exist since of course, as Scientologists, we are way above being mere “human.” Spock, from Star Trek, would have been the perfect model for a Scientology staff or Sea Org member.

Melanie had been on the decks for several weeks, and was restricted to the base. I had no idea where she was sleeping, but I knew that there were several rooms over at OGH (Old Gilman House), and a few trailers at the far side of the base that people stayed in when they couldn’t leave to secure in their own off-base berthing rooms.

While she was gone, a couple who had recently gotten married, put pressure on the person responsible for assigning berthing units to have me moved out of the room that Melanie and I lived in together so that they could have their own room. Because the girl was an HCO (Hubbard Communications Office, Div. 1 in a Scientology org, essentially Human Resources, which includes the Ethics Dept.) staff member in Gold, this happened very quickly, and I was moved into a dorm with about 10 other guys. The bunk beds were stacked up 3 high, and unfortunately for me, the only bunk available was one at the top that had only about a foot and a half of clearance from my face, to the ceiling. I began to have nightmares at night, and on several occasions, bashed my forehead on the ceiling from sitting up suddenly. That might sound funny to some, and yeah, I laughed it off a couple times, but when I look back on this, I can’t believe we agreed to live in such conditions.

Despite trying to clean the room and getting others to straighten up, the room continually smelled of heavy body odor, dirty socks, and all that 10 people could create. The worst part about it I guess was trying to take a shower and keep your uniform up to passing standards. Shower time was kept at 2 minutes a piece amongst us, and somehow we worked out a time schedule so that we all could get a shower in before having to make it to the bus on time.

Besides the fact that I couldn’t have any case on post, I was torn to shreds on the inside. I missed my wife terribly. I wasn’t allowed to speak to her, or spend any time with her. This went on for a couple of months. There was only one time I actually saw her during this time as she was running past me in a line of deckies all dressed in blue boiler suits and black boots. I gave her a smile to let her know that I still loved her and missed her. She returned the smile and pursed her lips. She looked disheveled and had dark circles under he eyes as if she hadn’t slept in days. My heart went out for her and I hoped that she would get through whatever she had to so we could see each other again.

The only thing I could do at that point was to put my nose to the grindstone and concentrate on my post duties completely. After a while I found it easy to put all my emotions to the side as I was only making it worse by thinking about Melanie all the time. There was nothing I could do about it except wait and see.

Renovations had been happening for a while on the new Qual building, and I had heard that Melanie had been doing a great job on her projects there. She had gotten to the point where she was actually working on her Liability Formula to make up the damage and get back in good with the group.

In Scientology, Hubbard lays out what are called the “conditions of existence” each one of them having a formula, and if applied, will move one up to the next higher condition level. Power being the top condition of existence, while Confusion being the lowest. For the condition of Liability, the formula includes that one “make an effective blow” toward the enemies of the group one has been “pretending” to be part of. In other words, if you’ve been assigned a condition of Liability, really, you’ve just been pretending to be a part of the group, and in Melanie’s case, the Sea Org. Thus, you must do something “effective” towards the enemies of the group to show that you’re really on the team. The condition formula also requires one to “make up the damage” one has done by personal contribution “far beyond” the ordinary demands of a group member. In the Sea Org, making up the damage is very tough due to the fact that almost every Sea Org member is overloaded with work loads and on many occasions work without proper sleep. In Liability, you are required to ask for permission of each member of the group to be able to rejoin, and only by majority permission are you allowed to do so.

At the Int Base, trying to get out of Liability was an absolute nightmare. Due to the fact that there were about 5-600 staff in Gold at the time, you had to print out practically a ream of paper to pass out at the org meal times for all staff to read your formula. Part of this ritual included staff who would disagree with parts of your formula by stating that you didn’t do enough to make an effective blow or make up the damage. If you didn’t get majority permission, which was over 300 signatures, you had to redo the earlier parts of the Liability formula, and again, try to get all of your signatures - pure insanity.

It was finally at one of our lunch breaks that I saw Melanie passing out her Liability formula. I practically jumped out of my shoes with excitement, but I had to control my feelings of course. To other SO members, for me to be jumping with joy at this time would be considered to be improper, due to the fact that Melanie was not considered to be part of the group at this time. She was still in enemy camp so to speak, until she got her formula approved of course.

I approached her and she handed me her formula, I read it and of course she had done enough! From all I can remember, I probably just skimmed through it and signed it as I didn’t even agree with what happened to her in the first place. We both looked at each other and knew that we would be together again soon. It was awkward because there were other people standing near and around us, and for us to even be affectionate with each other at this time would be looked upon as being inappropriate. We both smiled though, and just couldn’t stop grinning. I would be with her again soon - very soon!