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Waking Life · 2001 — Chapter 10 of 13 · 2'45" · C1

Strangers Talk About Not Being Ants, Explained: be an ant

Two strangers keep circling the same fear: that daily life has shrunk into errands, transactions, and polite scripts. One line names it directly — "I don't want to be an ant" — and the rest of the conversation asks what it would take to meet another person for real.

What happens

A stranger asks to redo a greeting, then explains that they don't want to live like an ant: just stop, go, walk, drive, and keep the colony buzzing. Another line admits to being on zombie autopilot lately. The talk moves to D.H. Lawrence, souls meeting, and a soap-opera project about fantasy lives and choices.

First datesSmall talkConfessingInvitingStrangersC1mediumamericanClean
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Listen for

be an antant autopilotI don't want a strawthe confrontation between their souls

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  3. ❝ MonologueThe Ant Monologue13 linesPractice page ↗
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Phrase of the scene

be an ant

live like a mindless worker

A stranger admits they have not met, then uses the ant image to reject being pushed through daily routine.

I don't want to be an ant in this office, clocking in and out without a thought.

Also in this scene

  • ant autopilot

    mindless routine mode

  • I don't want a straw

    I don't want a straw.

  • the confrontation between their souls

    a direct meeting of two inner selves

  • alter egos

    second selves

  • figure out

    work out and decide

Everything marked in this scene

27 notes across 39 lines

Phrase · B1be an ant

live like a mindless worker

A stranger admits they have not met, then uses the ant image to reject being pushed through daily routine.

I know we haven't met, but I don't want to be an ant. You know?
Soundwant to be

In fast speech, want to tends to blur; let be slide on.

I know we haven't met, but I don't want to be an ant. You know?
Phrase · B1go through life doing something

live out your days

I mean, it's like we go through life...
Phrase · B2on ___ autopilot

running on mindless routine Ant turns autopilot into an image of mindless routine.

other, continuously on ant autopilot, with nothing really human required of us.
Soundant autopilot

Let the t in ant brush past and slide into autopilot.

other, continuously on ant autopilot, with nothing really human required of us.
Phrase · B2real human moments

genuine moments of connection Not a literal human moment, but genuine connection.

I don't want a straw. I want real human moments.
Phrase · B1give something up

stop keeping something

I don't want to give that up. I don't want to be an ant, you know?
Phrase · B2jostle someone

nudge someone awake It can be a physical nudge and a wake-up call from routine.

Yeah, thanks for kind of, like, jostling me there.
Soundkind of, like

The d in kind of often disappears; treat like as a brief pause.

Yeah, thanks for kind of, like, jostling me there.
Slang · B1like

filler word — A filler for thinking time; avoid it in formal speech.

Yeah, thanks for kind of, like, jostling me there.
Phrase · B2on zombie autopilot

going through life mechanically Zombie describes numbness, not an actual zombie.

I've been kind of on zombie autopilot lately.
Slang · B1kind of

sort of — A casual hedge; avoid stacking it in formal writing.

I've been kind of on zombie autopilot lately.
Phrase · C1pass and glance away

pass by and look away

And instead of just passing and glancing away, they decided to accept what he calls "the confrontation between their souls."
Phrase · C1the confrontation between souls

a direct meeting of two inner selves

Someone borrows D.H. Lawrence to frame the street encounter as two souls facing each other instead of passing by.

And instead of just passing and glancing away, they decided to accept what he calls "the confrontation between their souls."
Grammar · B2instead of just passing and glancing away

prepositional phrase: It contrasts passing by with the choice to stop and face each other.

And instead of just passing and glancing away, they decided to accept what he calls "the confrontation between their souls."
Grammar · C1what he calls "the confrontation between their souls."

nominal clause: The whole what-clause is the object of accept: the thing he calls X.

And instead of just passing and glancing away, they decided to accept what he calls "the confrontation between their souls."
Phrase · B2fantasy lives

imagined lives

It's a soap opera, and, so, the characters are the fantasy lives.
Phrase · C1alter ego

second selves

Someone explains that the soap characters are the performers' fantasy-life alter egos, not random fictional strangers.

They're the alter egos of the performers who are in it.
Phrase · B1figure out something

work out and decide

Someone presents the first step as simple: identify something you have always wanted to do.

So you pretty much just figure out something that you’ve always wanted to do...
Phrase · B2the life someone wants to lead

the life you have wanted to live

or the life you’ve wanted to lead or occupation or something like that.
Grammar · B2the life you’ve wanted to lead

relative clause: An omitted relative pronoun links the life to the life you have wanted to lead.

or the life you’ve wanted to lead or occupation or something like that.
Phrase · B1write something in

add something to the script Not taking notes, but adding it to the soap plot.

And we write that in, and then we also have your life intersect...
Phrase · C1in ... fashion

in typical soap-opera style

with other people's in the soap opera in some typical soap opera fashion.
Phrase · B1have a lot to do with something

be closely connected with

So it has a lot to do with choices and honoring people's ability...
Phrase · B1send something back

return something you bought

And if you don't like what you got, then you can send it back...
Phrase · B2get what you pay for

pay cheap, get cheap

Someone links the art project to consumer choice: you choose, receive, maybe send it back, and pay for what you get.

or you get what you pay for, or just participating, just really making choices.
Slang · A2wanna

want to — Casual speech; use want to in formal writing.

- So, you wanna do it? - Uh, yeah. Yeah, that sounds really cool.

Strangers Talk About Not Being Ants, explained

What's really going on

The scene's real subject is not ants but the fear of disappearing into routine. The opening request—"Could we do that again?"—already asks for a second chance at contact, and the ant speech turns that into a diagnosis: life as stop, go, walk, drive, "all action basically for survival." The strongest image is the refusal of small transactional phrases — "I don't want a straw. I want real human moments." The reply "I don't want to be an ant, either" makes the exchange mutual rather than a lecture. Then the talk shifts to D.H. Lawrence and "the confrontation between their souls," and finally to a soap-opera project about fantasy lives, alter egos, and choices. The same worry keeps returning: whether people can meet as people, or only as consumers moving through polite scripts.

Theme

PhilosophyThe talk turns everyday routine into a question about what makes a human meeting real.
IdentityThe ant and zombie images ask whether one is still a person or only a function.

Listen for

  • want to be — In fast speech, want to tends to blur; let be slide on.
  • ant autopilot — Let the t in ant brush past and slide into autopilot.
  • kind of, like — The d in kind of often disappears; treat like as a brief pause.
I know we haven't met, but I don't want to be an ant. You know?

A stranger opens with a confession: I don't want to live as an interchangeable worker drone, just following routine.

I don't want a straw. I want real human moments.

A refusal of service-script talk; the speaker wants contact, not another polite transaction.

I want to see you. I want you to see me.

The wish is mutual recognition: two people actually noticing each other instead of passing by.

I've been kind of on zombie autopilot lately.

An admission of moving through recent days mechanically, without full feeling or attention.

I don't feel like an ant in my head, but I guess I probably look like one.

Inner life still feels human, while outward behavior may look like routine.

Questions about this scene

Why does the stranger ask to do the greeting again?

The first exchange is only "Excuse me" twice. "Could we do that again?" turns a reflex greeting into a request for a more deliberate encounter, which sets up the ant speech that follows.

How does the reply to the ant speech go?

With agreement: "Yeah. Yeah, I know," then "I don't want to be an ant, either." The reply makes the ant image a shared feeling rather than an argument.

What kind of meeting is the D.H. Lawrence reference describing?

Not just passing and glancing away, but accepting "the confrontation between their souls" — an encounter that frees "the brave reckless gods within us all."

What is the soap-opera project supposed to do?

It turns performers' fantasy lives into alter egos, lets their lives intersect "in some typical soap opera fashion," and later asks audiences to choose what they want to see.

Why does the talk mention get what you pay for?

It ties the project to consumerism, art, and commodity: you can "send it back," get what you pay for, or participate by making choices.

Waking Life · 13 chapters

All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 11beside the pointA Character in a Dream
Chapter 1on an even keelA Ride Full of Sea MetaphorsChapter 2write ourselves offSpeaker Defends ExistentialismChapter 3at the whim ofThe Evolution LectureChapter 4collective memoryTwo People Discuss ReincarnationChapter 5charadeThe Free Will LectureChapter 6two sides of the same coinMan Rants About ControlChapter 7in the middle of nowhereGas Station Shooting StoryChapter 8make the best of itLucid Dreaming Tips and TricksChapter 9come out of the momentTwo People Debate What Film CapturesWatching · Chapter 10be an antStrangers Talk About Not Being AntsChapter 11beside the pointA Character in a DreamChapter 12coauthors ofBridge Monologue on DreamsChapter 13false awakeningsDreamer Describes False Awakenings
Chapter 10 of 13 · about 9 min to go