25. When it hits the fan
"Truth is the only safe ground to stand on."
-- Elizabeth Cady Stanton
When Prof. Sigger found himself standing three miles outside of town on
County Highway A, he was, to say the least, chagrined. He tried
thumbing a ride from a couple in a pickup, but no luck. They were too
busy necking. One of them, however, did throw an empty beer can to
him.
After studying his situation carefully, he decided that he either must
walk the three miles or try that new method of movement that was
supposed to be listed in the gray section of the clipboard. And
considering that he hadn't exercised regularly in years, the clipboard
seemed to be the better option.
With only the starlight behind him, he began to read his way through
the higher math. It wasn't easy, but at the end of four minutes, he
decided that the section in question had to be interpreted
subjectively. This had been a theme of his academic career, so the
conclusion hadn't come as a surprise. It was amazing how elastic a
text could be given the right kind of reader. In fact, he had often
convinced himself (when lecturing to a room full of stupefied students)
that only he and his method could arrive at any kind of coherent, but
highly tentative, meaning.
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