Adam Huang
That morning Adam was careful to keep on schedule, not because he was eager but because the company he worked for valued punctuality highly. He was equally methodical in seeing how many pages of reading he could fit in without jeopardizing his timing. Abraham Kuyper: A Centennial Reader was not the sort of book that induced excitement, but it did trigger his mind, and that was enough to keep him reading it in the cold weather and fleeting moments. As thick as the book was, few pages were wasted, and that was something that he valued highly.
The book wasn’t the only thing he had to think about. At work there was a project refreshing some old approaches to estimating risk factors in small subsets of the population that was due to present it’s findings, and he was also mulling over some of what he had learned over the weekend, such as that the greek church had good food afterwards but a service that confused newcomers like him a great deal. However, all of these concerns were overshadowed today because of the masquerade. He had never been the sort to go these under ordinary circumstances, and it was sure to be awkward, but the promise this one held was so great that he did not hesitate to purchase his ticket. Thirty Five years was a long time to be at a search like this with nothing to show for it, so when an opportunity like this arose he had to take advantage of it.
At first he had hoped to convince a friend to go along with him. Ireneo, the eccentric shut-in that never seemed to forget, would have nothing to do with even if he hadn’t been involved in some trip to a ski resort where the details were vague. After the last dozen texts complaining about some nebulous teenagers and an unpleasant New Yorker Adam stopped asking him when he would be back from the trip. Finding a friend to go with was a source of anxiety about this outing, but there was still time to do something. He had resigned himself to the fact that his mask would probably look boring and his fashion sense was dated, while this was something he could at least look into. Before the work day began he sent a quick text to Noemi, simply stating “Hey, are you going to the Spectrum masquerade?” After that, he took a brief look at his ticket in his pocket and turned his mind to the workday ahead.
Simone Agarwal
There was a time in Simone’s morning routine that was not scheduled precisely as the rest, and this was when the small talk was most likely to occur. Previous experience had taught her that her coworkers did not like to talk about work at this hour, but they were mildly interested when she talked about her hobby of running. This time, everyone had their mind on the Masquerade scheduled for later, and Simone reluctantly joined the conversation.
She tried to keep a healthy bit of skepticism about the whole matter of strings, but with the mounting scientific evidence in favor of it she had to believe there was at least something underlying the idea. That did not mean discussing the topic excited her. While it would be desirable to find an ideal mate without having to bear the large burden of searching for one, the stories about odd matches gave her concern. Simone was careful not to share the full extent of these thoughts as they were dissimilar to the prevailing opinions of her coworkers, most of whom had a far more romantic and enthusiastic view of finding a red string.
Taking a passive approach would lead Simone down a road she would not have chosen at the start. As the conversation grew it turned out that Julie had already purchased a ticket but could not attend, and was looking for a way to give away her ticket. Simone said
“It’s intriguing, but I am worried about the cost.” Julie said
“Don’t worry about that. It would be a headache trying to find someone to buy it, so I just want to make sure it’s in good hands. You said you haven’t done something like this before, and it’s much easier to try it if you go as part of a group. There’ll be more events like this for me to go to, but if you’re interested in this one I’d love to hear how it is for you”
The social pressure was enough that Simone said yes, even though she was still reluctant. At least this provided another bonding experience.
That morning Adam was careful to keep on schedule, not because he was eager but because the company he worked for valued punctuality highly. He was equally methodical in seeing how many pages of reading he could fit in without jeopardizing his timing. Abraham Kuyper: A Centennial Reader was not the sort of book that induced excitement, but it did trigger his mind, and that was enough to keep him reading it in the cold weather and fleeting moments. As thick as the book was, few pages were wasted, and that was something that he valued highly.
The book wasn’t the only thing he had to think about. At work there was a project refreshing some old approaches to estimating risk factors in small subsets of the population that was due to present it’s findings, and he was also mulling over some of what he had learned over the weekend, such as that the greek church had good food afterwards but a service that confused newcomers like him a great deal. However, all of these concerns were overshadowed today because of the masquerade. He had never been the sort to go these under ordinary circumstances, and it was sure to be awkward, but the promise this one held was so great that he did not hesitate to purchase his ticket. Thirty Five years was a long time to be at a search like this with nothing to show for it, so when an opportunity like this arose he had to take advantage of it.
At first he had hoped to convince a friend to go along with him. Ireneo, the eccentric shut-in that never seemed to forget, would have nothing to do with even if he hadn’t been involved in some trip to a ski resort where the details were vague. After the last dozen texts complaining about some nebulous teenagers and an unpleasant New Yorker Adam stopped asking him when he would be back from the trip. Finding a friend to go with was a source of anxiety about this outing, but there was still time to do something. He had resigned himself to the fact that his mask would probably look boring and his fashion sense was dated, while this was something he could at least look into. Before the work day began he sent a quick text to Noemi, simply stating “Hey, are you going to the Spectrum masquerade?” After that, he took a brief look at his ticket in his pocket and turned his mind to the workday ahead.
Simone Agarwal
There was a time in Simone’s morning routine that was not scheduled precisely as the rest, and this was when the small talk was most likely to occur. Previous experience had taught her that her coworkers did not like to talk about work at this hour, but they were mildly interested when she talked about her hobby of running. This time, everyone had their mind on the Masquerade scheduled for later, and Simone reluctantly joined the conversation.
She tried to keep a healthy bit of skepticism about the whole matter of strings, but with the mounting scientific evidence in favor of it she had to believe there was at least something underlying the idea. That did not mean discussing the topic excited her. While it would be desirable to find an ideal mate without having to bear the large burden of searching for one, the stories about odd matches gave her concern. Simone was careful not to share the full extent of these thoughts as they were dissimilar to the prevailing opinions of her coworkers, most of whom had a far more romantic and enthusiastic view of finding a red string.
Taking a passive approach would lead Simone down a road she would not have chosen at the start. As the conversation grew it turned out that Julie had already purchased a ticket but could not attend, and was looking for a way to give away her ticket. Simone said
“It’s intriguing, but I am worried about the cost.” Julie said
“Don’t worry about that. It would be a headache trying to find someone to buy it, so I just want to make sure it’s in good hands. You said you haven’t done something like this before, and it’s much easier to try it if you go as part of a group. There’ll be more events like this for me to go to, but if you’re interested in this one I’d love to hear how it is for you”
The social pressure was enough that Simone said yes, even though she was still reluctant. At least this provided another bonding experience.
