A Familiar Vorrrp Vorrrp...

We sell this particular item at work, its a plush TARDIS that makes a materializing/dematerializing sound when you squeeze it. Needless to say it gets squeezed a lot of times during the work day(not by me... at least not anymore) The sound is just loud enough that I can pretty much hear it from anywhere in the store. Even though I know its not real, I still like to go look in the section that it's merchandised in to see who is playing with it...and if I am being honest, there is the little tiny fractional portion of me that looks...because, hey, you just never know.

Would you do it? If the TARDIS were to materialize out of the vortex and solidify right in front of you, If the Doctor came bounding out of the door and bumped into you, would you, could you, assist him and take that step into the unknown and travel with him?

It's an easy and a difficult question to answer all rolled into one.

On first impulse the answer would be, Hell yes! but really stop and think about it, it's a difficult one to say. Taking the step to be the Doctor's companion is not an easy road, sure, there must be some downtime in the TARDIS. After all, he does talk about some of the vacation spots in the Universe he's been to...but take a look at the way he meets his companions. In the heat of the moment, rushing from one cataclysmic event to the next. People die, monsters are unleashed, governments and dictators fall and sometimes planets explode.

I suppose as the Doctor has gotten older (yet younger looking) the experience of being a companion has at least lost one of its uncertainties...the uncertainty of ever seeing your home, family and original time period again. In the earliest stages of the Doctor's traveling with companions, he had no grasp of how to actually pilot the TARDIS where he wanted to go. The only way that a companion was likely to get home to their time was by sheer luck, if they were lucky enough to get back at all. Some died, some ended up being forced out of the TARDIS and some decided to leave and take up residence in a new time and place. As the Doctor has aged, he has gradually become more proficient with steering the TARDIS around the universe though still not 100% accurately. Many times hitting the right planet, but just not the right time frame.
Its not until the current series that companions have been so grounded in their timeframe, Rose, Martha, Donna and Amy have all had the opportunities to come back to family and home on numerous occasions.

Could you give up your life as you know it, journey in the TARDIS knowing that there is a remote possibility that you could die, and a greater chance that you might never return to your own time again. You would never see your family, friends and loved ones. Your possessions, your job, your pets and  your home might all be lost to you forever.

Would you?

The practical side of me says no, I couldn't do that at all, I can't see giving up all that I know for the unknown...The adventurous part of me isn't so certain. How could you give up the opportunity to see all of time and space, to have the miracles of the ages at your fingertips? Hell, just the opportunity to live and travel in the TARDIS and to explore its depths would be worth it alone.

I suppose that traveling in the TARDIS is a lot like real life, its uncertain, there are always risks. You never know what's around the next corner. You should live your life like any day or minute could be your last. Be happy, take chances. Life should be an adventure and not a chore.

Would I take that step through the doors of the TARDIS?  

Yeah, I think I would.

-Bill