The Problem with Partners, Part 4

First, he will want to exchange contact information. Your real name—first AND last—so he can put it into his interlocking phonePDAbuddylistemailtextmessagingFacebookMac system. “Just in case.”

In case of what? In case he can’t make it to class? What difference does it make? Who skips class because their partner can’t make it? Not me. I go to class. I can handle odd-woman-out status. Not to brag, but I’m pretty good at it. Show or no show…I’m happy.

He will insist on giving you his business card. Do not let it flutter from your fingers--that is littering. Also, he’s watching. Watch him. When you slip it into your wallet, he smiles.

If he is running late or must miss a class, he will call you. He expects you to do the same for him. Now you do not have a class partner, now you have an obligation.

Courtesy won’t kill you, my mother used to say when she was still the boss of me.
But what function does it serve? If I am going to the class anyway, do I need to know who else is going to be there? The information does not influence my actions.

It won’t kill you, she says.

It’s a mystery. What makes people need and want and behave as they do? Don’t ask. This is why we have rules of social behavior, so we don’t have to answer such questions on the fly. Take the phone call. It’s easier. And polite.

But it does sort of kill you. To the extent it impinges on your privacy, it does.

* * *

My wallet is adorable! It is red and just a little bit bigger than a dollar bill folded in half. Inside there are a few dollar bills, a credit card, two library cards, a gift card to the Tattered Cover, auto registration and insurance card, driver’s license.

On the outside of the wallet is a pocket just the size of a driver’s license. It is clear plastic, so you can easily prove your identity to merchants and police and agents of Homeland Security. Referencing the previous paragraph, you note that my driver’s license is inside the wallet. So what’s in the pocket?

Business cards: The Mathematician. Stan.

The Mathematician’s is on top; I see it each time I use the wallet.

Stan’s has dancing shoes on it. It is not really a business card. Tango is not his business, it is his …. what? It would be easy to say it is his life, but that’s overstating it. Hobby is too milquetoast a word, obsession and addiction too full of portent. What then? Tango is Stan’s habitat.