In the mess, Phlox dishes out his usual news brief on Enterprise edibles. T'Pol noshes on a heavy meal of celery sticks, cucumbers, red cabbage, kale, carrots, beans, and yellow squash with a knife and fork. This is where I should go into a tirade about T'Pol not liking human food, but I am just two swigs of Post Road short of not ever caring again. By the way, everything on that plate, except the celery, looks like it's made out of Play-Doh. Carry on, McDuff. Phlox comments that T'Pol must be looking forward to visiting her race's taboo temple with great glee. "It was the Captain's idea," T'Pol tells him, with a distinct absence of glee. Phlox insists that it's a part of her cultural history, and by default she must be interested. T'Pol is not. Phlox tries again, telling her that she'll be able to introduce her racemates to her crewmates. T'Pol runs and hides in a Jeffries tube for the rest of the episode. Sly as a Phlox suddenly understands her reticence and comments, "Oh, I believe I see the source of your misgivings -- being seen with your human crew." T'Pol tells him, "It could create a certain awkwardness." Much like your acting. Phlox reaches over and poaches a celery stick off her plate. Hey, I didn't know my dad was on this show! "May I?" Phlox asks, the celery piece nearly in his mouth. Of course, my dad usually said, "Are you going to eat that?" if any of us paused between bites to catch our breath. T'Pol gives the barest of head twitches, so Phlox crunches down and proceeds to tell her that he also feels out of place on the ship. "But what is that Vulcan motto?" Phlox asks between wet munches, "Infinite diversity --" "In infinite combinations," T'Pol finishes for him. "Hmm!" Phlox chortles, scooping up what looks like peanut-buttered contrivance on his celery stalk. "And what is diversity but a celebration of differences?" You know, replace the food with drinks and the Mess with Ten-Forward and you've got Guinan. Phlox chews the mic some more and says unslyly, "I wonder if you might remind me of our mission on this vessel. Please, indulge me." Like a child reciting a lesson, because that's exactly how Phlox is treating her, T'Pol says, "Our mission is to make contact with those who humans consider new life and new civilizations." Phlox points out the connection to the Vulcan diversity motto. "I suppose so," T'Pol says. "Well then, it seems to me a cultural exchange between your Vulcan brethren and your human crew is simply a furtherance of that mission," Phlox says. T'Pol just looks at him with corpulent lips.