every country across the ocean—or just the person across the table

i realized this idea early this summer

while dining with my counterpart (my gf) at our local diner

that one could consider every country across the ocean (as our politicians do)

worry about international consequences

the world—the globe

or one could consider just the person across the table

and consider that dealing with that person is the same

the exact same thing

with the same buttons to push and the same types of reactions and consequences

that dealing with the person across the table is more difficult than dealing with every country across the ocean

and dealing with the person across the table is the real desired objective of those who deal with every country across the ocean

that conquering (or mastering) (or succeeding with) the person across the table is what we really want

and that we disguise it with trying to overcome countries

when all we want is to deal with the person who is sitting across the table from us

and (if we could accomplish this meager goal) we would be satisfied

(in a way that would cause us to re-approach our goals with countries across the ocean)

am i really dealing with (every country across the ocean) ??

or am i simply dealing with (the person across the table)