Berkeley: Day 4 - Small World Syndrome
Long ago, my dad pointed out to me that as time goes on the circle of people I associate with will become smaller and smaller and more and more global. You start with your fellow high school shitheads that you happily bid farewell to as the first cut. You finish in your college major and it narrows down to the other whatevers you are. Then, assuming you do, as you climb the ziggurat lickity split Ace Rimmer style you soon find your peers consists of a fairly small group that you know by first name and you keep running into them no matter where you go. I didn't believe him at the time. Considering the health physics community consists of a few thousand people worldwide, I am starting to notice it happening.
Sometimes you get, or give, a reminder of those previous iterations.
I went out to the Richmond Field Station with a co-worker to check out a derelict irradiator unit which involved an awful lot of standing around and waiting for people to show up and open doors for us so we got to talking. It seems he's from Grass Valley. I'd been up there before courtesy of my college ex. We were having a good time talking about those places when he stopped me and asked her name. I told him and he had a Keanu-like "Whoa..." moment.
It seems she was in his high school graduating class, not that he really ever got to talk to her because she was one of the pretty, popular, cheerleader girls. They both ended up at UCSC but they never really saw each other again, much like I did with most of the people from SLVHS who went to UCSC. I then got eyed head to toe. He had difficulty believing I had ever dated out of caste like that. To be honest, I'd had some difficulty with it too.
I told him that it didn't last long or end happily. He nodded sagely. That made more sense.
Sometimes you get, or give, a reminder of those previous iterations.
I went out to the Richmond Field Station with a co-worker to check out a derelict irradiator unit which involved an awful lot of standing around and waiting for people to show up and open doors for us so we got to talking. It seems he's from Grass Valley. I'd been up there before courtesy of my college ex. We were having a good time talking about those places when he stopped me and asked her name. I told him and he had a Keanu-like "Whoa..." moment.
It seems she was in his high school graduating class, not that he really ever got to talk to her because she was one of the pretty, popular, cheerleader girls. They both ended up at UCSC but they never really saw each other again, much like I did with most of the people from SLVHS who went to UCSC. I then got eyed head to toe. He had difficulty believing I had ever dated out of caste like that. To be honest, I'd had some difficulty with it too.
I told him that it didn't last long or end happily. He nodded sagely. That made more sense.