Joel's Fantasy Economics: Kristie

The Novels

Economics 101, a Novel (Rough Draft) -- My first sustained attempt at a novel, two-thirds finished in rough draft, and heading a little too far south.

What would you do if you and your study partner, with whom you had been seriously discussing marriage, suddenly found yourselves all alone together on a desert island? Study economics?

Sociology 500, a Romance (Second Draft) -- The first book in the Economics 101 Trilogy.(On hold.)

Karel and Dan, former American football teammates and now graduate students, meet fellow graduate students Kristie and Bobbie, and the four form a steady study group.

Showing posts with label Kristie. Show all posts

Friday, February 10, 2017

Backup: Sociology 500, a Novel, ch 2 pt 5 -- Letters Home

[JMR201702100915: edits -- fixing late-night writing mistakes]

I thought I'd let you read their {strike} first letters home after the {replace}semester started{with}events of the last chapter{replace.}.

({add}and {add.}Dad and the rest of you guys, too, of course.)

I'm getting settled in, {strike}got {strike.}my{add} class{add.} schedule{add} is{add.} arranged, {add} and I'm {add.}getting started with classes.

The part time job at the hospital is going to work out okay{strike}, at least{strike.} for this semester{add}, at least{add.}. I've told them I can't let it interfere with studies, and they seem to understand{strike},{strike.} as much as management can. The bank is set up okay, there's a decent store within walking distance, and I've got room in my budget for a little socializing.

The rest of my roommates are okay, too. I can understand them, and they seem to understand me{strike} okay, so far{strike.}. {replace}There's a bit of teasing, but it's relatively harmless. Kristie and I can give as good as we get, if necessary, and we can hold our peace, and let them have their fun, too.{with}Some of them talk too much about the guys, but I think Kristie and I can deal with that.{replace.}

Do you remember, Mom, reading about Karel Pratt in a newspaper article you showed me a few weeks back{replace}? Former{with} -- the former{replace.} football player working on his doctorate? That's {replace}that{with}the good-looking{replace.} guy I met in the department office back in January. He's in my education topics class, and a couple {replace}more{with}of others{replace.}.

He seems a bit of a klutz, but not really. And he's sweet. It looks like {add}he {add.}knows how to take care of his responsibilities, and how to watch out for other people{add}, too{add.}.

{repace}He{with}And he{replace.} has a friend, Dan Claymount, who is also a really nice guy. A bit more socially forward, and a real gallant. They were teammates on the football squad here about five years ago. I like his looks, too, for what that counts. And he's in the education topics class{add} with us{add.}, too. Fun {replace}stuff{with}things happening{replace.}, huh?

For some reason, {replace}they{with}Dan and Karel{replace.} don't room together.

{replace}
We've signed up for a ballroom dance class together, Kristie, Dan, Karel, and I. Can you believe it? Ballroom dance.
{with}
The four of us went to Dan's stake's dance Friday night. It was a lot of fun. Both Dan and Karel dance really well. I was thinking it would be fun to take a modern dance class together. But Dan suggested we all sign up for a ballroom dance class, and it looks like that's what we'll do. This is going to be fun.
{replace.}

{add}We also started a study group that grew a little bit. {add.}The four of us will be studying together. A lot.

Mom, I'm a little bit confused. I like both Dan and Karel. A lot. Kristie does, too. She's had this crush on Karel forever, since Dan and Karel were on the football {replace}time{with}team{replace.}. He was her {replace}white knight once{with}White Knight once when she was a damsel-in-distress{replace.}.

I'm really excited about classes and {replace}things{with}school{replace.} this semester. It is all coming together quite nicely.

[JMR201702100915: end-edits -- ]

[JMR201702100915: backup of http://joel-rees-economics.blogspot.com/2017/02/soc500-02-05-letters-home.html because I missed some trivial and important stuff writing in the middle of the night.]

TOC

Previous

I thought I'd let you read their first letters home after the semester started.

Dear Mom,

(Dad and the rest of you guys, too, of course.)

I'm getting settled in, got my schedule arranged, getting started with classes.

The part time job at the hospital is going to work out okay, at least for this semester. I've told them I can't let it interfere with studies, and they seem to understand, as much as management can. The bank is set up okay, there's a decent store within walking distance, and I've got room in my budget for a little socializing.

I told you about my roommate Kristie already. She's going to be a good friend, just as I thought she would be. She's in my education topics class.

The rest of my roommates are okay, too. I can understand them, and they seem to understand me okay, so far. There's a bit of teasing, but it's relatively harmless. Kristie and I can give as good as we get, if necessary, and we can hold our peace, and let them have their fun, too.

Do you remember, Mom, reading about Karel Pratt in a newspaper article you showed me a few weeks back? Former football player working on his doctorate? That's that guy I met in the department office back in January. He's in my education topics class, and a couple more.

He seems a bit of a klutz, but not really. And he's sweet. It looks like knows how to take care of his responsibilities, and how to watch out for other people.

He has a friend, Dan Claymount, who is also a really nice guy. A bit more socially forward, and a real gallant. They were teammates on the football squad here about five years ago. I like his looks, too, for what that counts. And he's in the education topics class, too. Fun stuff, huh?

For some reason, they don't room together.

We've signed up for a ballroom dance class together, Kristie, Dan, Karel, and I. Can you believe it? Ballroom dance.

The four of us will be studying together. A lot.

Dad, guys, don't read what follows. Only Mom. It's girl stuff. (I know you'll all read it anyway, but I take no responsibility for anything you misunderstand about it.)

Mom, I'm a little bit confused. I like both Dan and Karel. A lot. Kristie does, too. She's had this crush on Karel forever, since Dan and Karel were on the football time. He was her white knight once.

Karel's my age, and Dan is just a little older than Kristie, not that age counts for much.

It just feels comfortable being with them. Well, it's a lot like being with you guys. Near as I can tell, they feel the same.

I'm glad we're going to be studying together so much.

I think I'm going to have to trust God on this one, because I'm getting no clues.

Love to both of you, and Rick and Gary, you two, too.

Bobs

Mother, Father,

I'm really excited about classes and things this semester. It is all coming together quite nicely.

I know you wanted me to do the Master's degree closer to home, and I know you're worried about me finding good companionship among these E-P-ists. I don't think there's anything to worry about. I've made three special friends who don't care at all about any kind of social standing -- they've been members of the Church all their lives, and they know I'm a convert, and they treat me as one of their own.

We will be studying together quite a bit this semester, including taking ballroom dance together. I'm sure you will both approve.

Roberta is my roommate. She's a bit older, but she's steady. She's a nurse and a student of dance, and she is doing PhD work in anthropology. She's also been what the Church calls a service missionary -- She spent three years in an island country, teaching about health, hygiene, and Jesus, and being a nurse where they needed nurses. She's already teaching me a lot.

Daniel is a football player. He's just a little older than I. He was on the team here five years ago, and he played professionally after college. But he's a good E-P-ist boy, no drinking, no womanizing, responsible about his money. And he cares about people.

I will admit, he didn't particularly hide his appreciation of my appearance when we met, but he no longer makes an issue of it. He really knows how to behave himself like a gentleman. He is as much of a gentleman as any of the men you have arranged for me to meet in the past, far more than some.

Karel is a bit of a riddle. He's about five years older than I am, about the same age as Roberta. He is also a former football player -- Daniel and he were teammates, and they remain friends.

I met Karel once, a long time ago. Maybe you remember me mentioning him, Mother? He stepped in when a group of boys were misbehaving towards me.

He is not aggressive, but he is no less a gentleman than Daniel, and no less solid, I think, even more responsible than Daniel.

I'm talking a lot about my new friends. It's really nice to have friends I can just be myself with.

I have met my professors and arranged to meet with them regularly to discuss my academic progress. The department head has agreed to report to you, should I fall behind in my classes, per your requests.

I have full confidence you will be pleased with my continuing work here.

Your faithful daughter,

Kristine

Hey, guys, it's me!

I'm here safely. Karel is on campus, for some reason. So we're not roomies. But we are hanging out together. And some. Blame it on Karel, but we've met the two most wonderful women in the world. Besides Mom and Shel and Debs, of course. We're studying together and taking a ballroom dance class together and, just maybe, Karel has met someone as cool as you, Sheliah. Maybe me, too. I'll let you know.

love you guys,

Dan

PS -- They're names are Bobbie and Kristie. Debs, Shel, you may have doubts because they are beautiful. But they are really cool. Inner beauty, to match, so, there. Nanners. And they understand the Gospel.

Hi.

Just letting you know that the semester has had a good start.

Not much to report, except that Dan and I have made friends with two of the nicest women we've ever met. Bobbie, Roberta, that is, is in the pre-PhD track in anthropology with me, working in island culture. The professors are encouraging us to work together, but we've managed not to let that cause problems. Kristine, who goes by Kristie, is her roommate, and working on a Master's in education, like Dan.

They are both returned missionaries, and we can talk about the doctrines of the Gospel with them.

We have classes together, and we have arranged to study together.

The car is running fine, Dad. I don't yet have any place to tear it down, but the way it's running, I won't need to.

The dorm laundry and cafeteria are just fine, too, Mom.

The dorm phone number is (elided).

Dad, the next time I see you, I want a father's blessing. I'm foreseeing some difficult, but wonderful choices that I'll want God to give me special help with.

Love you all,

K

TOC

[There are no previous versions.]

[The original of this chapter in the first draft is here: http://free-is-not-free.blogspot.com/2016/05/economics-101-novel-ch04-going-by-four-letters-home.html.]
[JMR201702100915: end-backup]

Sociology 500, a Novel, ch 2 pt 5 -- Letters Home

TOC

Previous

I thought I'd let you read their letters home after the events of the last chapter.

Dear Mom,

(and Dad and the rest of you guys, too, of course.)

I'm getting settled in, my class schedule is arranged, and I'm getting started with classes.

The part time job at the hospital is going to work out okay for this semester, at least. I've told them I can't let it interfere with studies, and they seem to understand as much as management can. The bank is set up okay, there's a decent store within walking distance, and I've got room in my budget for a little socializing.

I told you about my roommate Kristie already. She's going to be a good friend, just as I thought she would be. She's in my education topics class.

The rest of my roommates are okay, too. I can understand them, and they seem to understand me. Some of them talk too much about the guys, but I think Kristie and I can deal with that.

Do you remember, Mom, reading about Karel Pratt in a newspaper article you showed me a few weeks back -- the former football player working on his doctorate? That's the good looking guy I met in the department office back in January. He's in my education topics class, and a couple of others.

He seems a bit of a klutz, but not really. And he's sweet. It looks like he knows how to take care of his responsibilities, and how to watch out for other people, too.

And he has a friend, Dan Claymount, who is also a really nice guy. A bit more socially forward, and a real gallant. They were teammates on the football squad here about five years ago. I like his looks, too, for what that counts. And he's in the education topics class with us, too. Fun things happening, huh?

For some reason, Dan and Karel don't room together.

The four of us went to Dan's stake's dance Friday night. It was a lot of fun. Both Dan and Karel dance really well. I was thinking it would be fun to take a modern dance class together. But Dan suggested we all sign up for a ballroom dance class, and it looks like that's what we'll do. This is going to be fun.

We also started a study group that grew a little bit. The four of us will be studying together. A lot.

Dad, guys, don't read what follows. Only Mom. It's girl stuff. (I know you'll all read it anyway, but I take no responsibility for anything you misunderstand about it.)

Mom, I'm a little bit confused. I like both Dan and Karel. A lot. Kristie does, too. She's had this crush on Karel forever, since Dan and Karel were on the football team. He was her White Knight once when she was a damsel-in-distress.

Karel's my age, and Dan is just a little older than Kristie, not that age counts for much.

It just feels comfortable being with them. Well, it's a lot like being with you guys. Near as I can tell, they feel the same.

I'm glad we're going to be studying together so much.

I think I'm going to have to trust God on this one, because I'm getting no clues.

Love to both of you, and Rick and Gary, you two, too.

Bobs

Mother, Father,

I'm really excited about classes and school this semester. It is all coming together quite nicely.

I know you wanted me to do the Master's degree closer to home, and I know you're worried about me finding good companionship among these E-P-ists. I don't think there's anything to worry about. I've made three special friends who don't care at all about any kind of social standing -- they've been members of the Church all their lives, and they know I'm a convert, and they treat me as one of their own.

We will be studying together quite a bit this semester, including taking ballroom dance together. I'm sure you will both approve.

Roberta is my roommate. She's a bit older, but she's steady. She's a nurse and a student of dance, and she is doing PhD work in anthropology. She's also been what the Church calls a service missionary -- She spent three years in an island country, teaching about health, hygiene, and Jesus, and being a nurse where they needed nurses. She's already teaching me a lot.

Daniel is a football player. He's just a little older than I. He was on the team here five years ago, and he played professionally after college. But he's a good E-P-ist boy, no drinking, no womanizing, responsible about his money. And he cares about people.

I will admit, he didn't particularly hide his appreciation of my appearance when we met, but he no longer makes an issue of it. He really knows how to behave himself like a gentleman. He is as much of a gentleman as any of the men you have arranged for me to meet in the past, far more than some.

Karel is a bit of a riddle. He's about five years older than I am, about the same age as Roberta. He is also a former football player -- Daniel and he were teammates, and they remain friends.

I met Karel once, a long time ago. Maybe you remember me mentioning him, Mother? He stepped in when a group of boys were misbehaving towards me.

He is not aggressive, but he is no less a gentleman than Daniel, and no less solid, I think, even more responsible than Daniel.

I'm talking a lot about my new friends. It's really nice to have friends I can just be myself with.

I have met my professors and arranged to meet with them regularly to discuss my academic progress. The department head has agreed to report to you, should I fall behind in my classes, per your requests.

I have full confidence you will be pleased with my continuing work here.

Your faithful daughter,

Kristine

TOC

[Previous versions backed up here: http://joel-rees-economics.blogspot.com/2017/02/backup-soc500-02-05-letters-home.html.]

[The original of this chapter in the first draft is here: http://free-is-not-free.blogspot.com/2016/05/economics-101-novel-ch04-going-by-four-letters-home.html.]

Sunday, February 5, 2017

Sociology 500, a Novel, ch 2 pt 2 -- The Girls Talk

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Previous

Kristie and Bobbie are not talking about fire drills. Or are they?

Kristie looked at her reflection in the mirror, holding her hair up and letting it fall, trying to decide whether to put her hair up for the graduate students' opening social or leave it down. The mirror she was using was the full-length mirror in the living room that they shared with the four other women in the apartment.

"Do you think the guys find me attractive, Bobbie?"

"Hunh? What?" Bobbie was sitting on the floor in hers and Kristie's room, checking her textbooks.

"I always worry about whether the guys find me attractive."

Bobbie leaned sideways and looked at Kristie's back through the doorway. "So you did just ask whether I thought the guys found you attractive."

"Yes, ..."

Bobbie got up and came into the living room and stood behind Kristie and put her hands on her shoulders. "Kristine Person, ..." Then she examined Kristie's hair and her face in the mirror, shaping her hair and lifting it in various styles, letting Kristie look at the effect. "... you know that's not the right question. What do you think of this?"

Kristie shook her head. "No that's not me. Too exotic. Not the right question? Well, the Sunday School teachers always said we shouldn't worry too much, but how are we supposed to find a husband if we don't make ourselves attractive?"

"Okay, picking a wrong question to answer first, yes, the guys find you attractive. But which guys? How's this?"

Kristie's face clouded. "That's not fair, asking which guy. No, I'd feel off balance with my hair up that high."

"I didn't say which guy, I said which guys. As in, I would bet Karel and Dan will both find you quite attractive enough, even without you doing your hair up, or even using makeup. How's a tight bun, like this?"

"That's nice of you to say. Maybe, but not today. It'd take too long to do it right."

"I don't think you should worry about guys who don't find you attractive. They don't really matter to you. Have you ever bobbed your hair?" Bobbie cupped her hands under Kristie's hair and lifted it close to her ears.

"They don't matter? Really? Don't you worry about it? I mean, sure, you're the kind of girl just about any guy would find attractive. Yes, I have, but that's so, what? like a tom-boy. I bobbed it in high school."

Bobbie smoothed Kristie's hair out and took her by the shoulders and turned her around to face her. "So are you. Half the guys on campus would kill to get a date with you, and the other half would die for you. And these two guys, Dan and Karel, I think, will behave themselves nicely, instead of any of that. ... I wonder, though, have you never wished certain guys wouldn't find you attractive?"

"You mean, guys who try to push themselves on you?"

"Uh, huh."

"Yes, I guess I have." Kristie's face clouded again, in mixed emotions.

"Once, when I was a freshman," she continued, "I was walking alone on a road off-campus, and a bunch of creeps came up behind me in a car and started whistling and howling and stuff. They tried to get me to get in the car with them."

"Oooh. That's terrible. But just once?"

"No, it happens every now and then." Then her face cleared. "But this one time, this really cool guy came along and told them, 'Get out of here!'. And they did. He walked me the rest of the way to campus to make sure I got to my next class okay."

"Wow! Wonderful!"

"I didn't find out who he was until later."

"You didn't ask his name?"

"I was a freshman. He was a grad student. I was too awestruck, I guess."

"But you did find out who he was?"

"It was Karel Pratt."

"Oh!"

"When I found out who he was, I started going to all the football games to see him. That's how I got interested in football."

"So, you've had a crush on Karel for a while?"

"I've been in love with him for six years! I was disappointed today that he had forgotten me, but here he is in the same class with me! You won't take him away from me, will you?"

Bobbie blinked. She thought for a moment, and said, "Six years to think you're in love with someone you don't really know is a long time -- long enough to develop a lot of wrong ideas about him. He might not be your white knight after all, ..."

"I went on a mission partly because I heard he thought it was okay for women to go if they wanted to teach people about Jesus."

Something inside Bobbie was crumbling. She'd known various kinds of disappointment before, and, somehow, she had been almost expecting disappointment this time, too. But facing this kind of internal conflict was going to be awfully hard. The dreams she had been thinking she might be ready to permit herself would have have to be postponed for a while.

The nurse inside took over. "Well, like I say. Don't worry about your looks. The guys that are important will like you anyway. At least, that's what my mom says."

Mary Whitmer had not always said such things. But she said such things now, and it was more important for Kristie to hear the conclusion than to hear the history of how Bobbie and her mother had come to such a conclusion.

"In that case, I think I'll just be lazy and go with my hair down."

"Good idea. I think I'll do the same. It's getting about time to go, anyway. The point is, real love takes time to negotiate. There's lots to learn about each other."

"Patience."

"Yes, patience, but not passive. Gotta have fun with people."

"I think I can do that."

TOC

[There are no previous versions.]

[The original of this chapter can be found in the first draft, here: http://free-is-not-free.blogspot.com/2016/05/economics-101-novel-ch04-going-by-four.html.]

Saturday, February 4, 2017

Sociology 500, a Romance, ch 1 pt 4 -- They Meet Each Other

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Previous

So, how did Karel and Bobbie end up making each others' acquaintance?

How about Dan and Kristie?

A few days before classes began, Bobbie was seated in Professor MacVittie's office discussing her preliminary plans for her doctoral thesis.

"I see your plans include spending some time observing and interviewing the local people on-location in," and he named named an island country which has no corollary in our world.

"Yes. I think fieldwork there will better support my thesis than most other places."

"Well, I'm not sure we can make any promises about sending faculty to supervise your fieldwork there. We may have to ask you to adjust those plans."

"I'll cross that bridge when I get to it, I guess."

"It will be easier to arrange supervision if you can combine your fieldwork with other students."

"I had assumed there would be other students to work with out in the field. But that's not guaranteed, is it?"

"No, it's not. Would you be interested in working with another student who is planning his thesis in a similar area?"

"Uhm, his? Only one other student?"

"Uh, yes. His planned thesis is in island economics, and he wants to go to the same group of islands. I'm thinking you would find quite a bit that you could cooperate on."

"You're not trying to set me up with some guy, are you?"

"Set you up? No. We don't play games like that with students' lives."

Bobbie was not looking convinced.

"This other student is preparing for admission to the PhD track program at about the same time as you, and since he plans include fieldwork in the same islands as you, ..."

"And he's a guy."

"As it turns out. Don't hold it against him. If we can't plan on the two of you working together, we're looking at you being out in the islands alone during most of the fieldwork phase. If you're alone, you'll have no one to back you up in case of emergency."

"And girls shouldn't be out in the big, wide, dangerous world all by themselves."

"Neither should guys, without preparation."

"I am a nurse. I am no longer twenty. I think I can handle myself."

"That kind of attitude can put you in serious danger."

"I don't plan on going out unprepared, either."

"That's good."

Professor and student eyed each other warily, not quite sure where the conversation should go from there.

Professor MacVittie decided to push ahead anyway. "Look, I haven't talked with this other student about it yet. I thought I'd suggest it to you, and only mention it to him if you agreed."

"May I ask his name?"

"Karel Pratt. He"

Bobbie cut him short. "He was a football player here about five years ago." Her expression was unreadable.

"You know him?"

"No."

"Football is another of your interests?"

"Football is applied choreography, so, yes." Bobbie laughed. "But my mother showed me a newspaper article about him a month or so ago. It seems that football players with advanced degrees are a rarity."

"He has a bachelor's in physics and a master's in engineering, played football as a walk-on player."

"So he has a wide range of interests, too."

The professor grinned. "Yeah. A wide range of interests, just like you. I never said a wide range of interests was a bad thing. Quite the opposite, really. Anthropologists need a broad base to work from. I just wanted to make sure you realized you'd need to do a lot of work before you could focus on your thesis."

"Nothing about my being a woman?"

"I didn't say that. Woman do need to take more precautions than men when working in less developed societies."

"I guess I'll agree with that."

"You could help each other, if you could ignore the difference in gender. Especially since you are both interested in so many similar things, it should be easy for you to help each other."

"Similar interests?" Bobbie laughed to herself. "I guess I'm being a little defensive."

"You could meet in my office, if you'd feel more comfortable about it."

"I'd rather not meet him where he knows he has to behave himself. If he's interested, he can contact me. I'll see how he behaves, and we can work out whether we'll work together from there."

"So it's okay if I mention this to him, the next time I see him?"

"Oh, sure, I guess."

"I'll be talking with him on the first day of classes. Will that be too soon?"

"No, that'll be okay."

Professor White was not available to review Karel's preparation for pre-PhD work, so he had scheduled a visit with Professor MacVittie on the first day of classes. During their visit, they talked about fieldwork, and the professor suggested he consider working with Bobbie. Karel said he'd talk with her and see.

The question of how he would contact her didn't really occur to him until after he left Professor MacVittie's office.

After his meeting with the professor, he went to his first class, a graduate-level cross-discipline survey of education theories and topics. It would be under the direction of a team of three professors from different departments, with regular guest lecturers.

As he entered the lecture room, Karel looked for a seat at the front. PhD candidates were expected to show leadership, and he rightly assumed that the professors who would approve his candidacy and thesis would not perceive sitting in the back as showing leadership.

Whether the supervising professors would be right in such perception is a separate topic of consideration, which we will set aside.

As he moved to the front of the room, he saw some students he knew and greeted them. He also greeted some he hadn't yet met as he proceeded to the empty front row. Choosing a seat slightly to the left of center, he laughed silently to himself at the spurious, but accurate, potential political interpretation of his choice of seat.

Political left and right seem to have about the same meanings in the world of this novel, as well.

Yeah, Karel was a little distracted. He might have had more than one reason to choose the empty front row.

He didn't notice a petite, very pretty blonde who had come into the room after him. She waited, looking around the room, as he moved to the front. When Karel had sat down, she made her way to the seat to Karel's right. Heads turned, but she didn't pay any attention.

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"

If you called her a blonde bombshell, not many would disagree. She, herself, would. It wasn't her fault that some men gave her attention she didn't seek.

"Uhhn, no. No. Go ahead." Karel was still distracted.

"I'm Kristie Person, by the way," she said as she sat down. "I'm in the Master's program in education."

"Hi. Karel Pratt. Pre-PhD, Anthropology." After an awkward pause, he asked, "So this course is in your primary field?"

"Yes. I'm coming in from a bachelor's in PE, so my professors told me to take the survey class."

"I see."

"Karel, so nice to see you here!" Karel was not surprised by the voice behind him.

"Dan! You made it." Karel turned and slapped hands with Dan.

"So introduce me to your friend!" Dan said as he sat down on the other side of Kristie.

"I just met her, myself. Kristine Pierson. Right?"

Kristie was a bit non-plussed, but smiled anyway. "Sort of. My name is Kristine, but everyone calls me Kristie. And Person and Pierson are more or less the same name in Sweden."

Karel grinned sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

"You'll have to forgive my friend. He can be a bit of a goofball at times. I'm Dan Claymount. Karel and I used to play football together. He was much less clumsy on the football field."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Oh, that's right. I remember now." Now she remembers? We'll wink at that. "Dan was the quarterback five years ago, and you were the rover who made all the big plays."

The position of rover is a difficult position, as you can imagine. A rover has to have a grasp of what is happening with three balls at once, and must be fully prescient about where he can make the most effective play next.

It's also a bit of a thankless position. Even when the big play is made, someone probably could have made a bigger play if the rover had been there for them.

"He sure was." Dan concurred with Kristie's memory.

"No, I wasn't. Coach saved me to mix things up when we got stuck. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't."

"You're just being modest. I watched a lot of your games."

"Well, so you're a fan of the school's football program, I take it?" Karel tried to direct the topic of conversation away from himself.

"Yes! Football is one of my favorite sports!"

One of the professors stood up just then and greeted the students.

"Welcome, to this year's graduate survey in education topics. I'm Professor Donival. Please check your schedules to be sure you are in the right place." And he proceeded to explain the syllabus and assignment schedule.

And all of the students in the room busied themselves taking notes.

After about ten minutes, Professor Donival shifted from the course outline to the material for first lecture.

After another ten minutes, Karel became aware that the seat to his left was now occupied, and he looked over and nodded to the woman who was sitting there taking notes. Turning back to the blackboard, he forgot for a moment to breath. Mentally shaking himself, he deliberately returned his focus to the lecture.

At the end of the lecture, Karel turned again to his left. "I have notes from the first twenty minutes, if you'd like to copy them," he offered, opening to the first page in his notebook.

"Thanks. That would be nice," she said, and started copying. We missed her reaction when she sat down by Karel, but when she read Karel's name on the notebook, she was thinking to herself something like, "Of course it would be."

"You could copy my notes back at the apartment, Bobbie," Kristie was being helpful.

"You two are roommates?" Dan asked.

"Yes, actually. If you don't have time, Karel, ...," Bobbie said, feeling, but not showing, a bit of surprise at how easy it felt to say his name.

"No problem. Get it while it's fresh."

"Well, are you going to introduce me, Karel?" Dan prompted.

"Oh. Bobbie Whitmer, meet Dan Claymount. He and I were on the football team about five years ago. Should I tell her what you are doing your masters work in, Dan?" Karel was anything but surprised at how pleasant it felt to say her name.

"Underwater basketweaving," Dan replied.

Bobbie looked up, amused. "Sports education, with a coaching emphasis."

"How did you know?"

"Read your mind. Karel's mind is not as transparent."

"I see." Dan clearly did not see. For him, not being sure of his position was a rare thing, both on the football field and off, and he felt himself rising to the challenge. "Say, is anyone going to the opening social tonight?"

"Maybe we can make it a foursome?" Kristie rose to the challenge.

What Bobbie and Karel were thinking at this point would be hard to say. For separate reasons, they had learned to go with the flow in social situations, waiting for opening gambits to play out before deciding which way to move.

And they were as surprised as I think we are at how natural it felt for them to suddenly be old friends.

"Sounds good. What do you think, Bobbie?"

"Why not?"

TOC

[Previous versions backed up here: http://joel-rees-economics.blogspot.com/2017/02/backup-soc500-01-04-meet-each-other.html.]

[The original of this chapter can be found here: http://free-is-not-free.blogspot.com/2016/05/economics-101-novel-ch03-introducing.html.]

Backup: Sociology 500, a Romance, ch 1 pt 4 -- They Meet Each Other

[JMR201704121526: metadata-edit -- Name.]
Sociology 500, a {replace}Novel{with}Romance{replace.}, ch 1 pt 4 -- They Meet Each Other

[JMR201704121526: end-metadata-edit.]

[JMR201702051733: edit -- That's not a department social.]

The position of rover is a difficult position, as you can imagine. {replace}One{with}A rover{replace.} has to have a grasp of what is happening with three balls at once, and must be fully prescient about where he can make the most effective play next.

It's also a bit of a thankless position. Even when the big play is made, someone {add}probably {add.}could have made a bigger play if the rover had been there for them.

"I see." Dan clearly did not see. For him, not being sure of his position was a rare thing, both on the football field and off, and he felt himself rising to the challenge. "Say, is anyone going to the {strike}department{strike.} opening social tonight?"

[JMR201702051733: end-edit]

[JMR201702050135: edit -- Admit Dan and Kristie are also protagonists in this.]
{add}
How about Dan and Kristie?
{add.}

[JMR201702050135: end-edit]

[JMR201702041226: edits -- Added better reasons for suggesting Bobbie and Karel work together, corrected some sloppy writing. ]

"I see your plans include spending some time observing and interviewing the local people on-location {replace}in the islands."{with}in," and he named named an island country which has no corollary in our world.{replace.}

{replace}"Yes, I'm hoping to support my thesis with fieldwork."
{with}
"Yes. I think fieldwork there will better support my thesis than most other places."
{replace.}

"Well, I'm not sure we can make any promises about sending faculty to supervise your fieldwork{add} there{add.}. We may have to ask you to adjust those plans."

"No, it's not. {replace}You might{with}Would you{replace.} be interested in working with another student who is planning his thesis in a similar area?"

"As it turns out. Don't hold it against him. If we can't plan on the two of you working together, we're looking at you being out in the islands alone during most of the fieldwork phase. If you're alone, you'll have no {replace}backup{with}one to back you up{replace.} in case of emergency."

The question of how he would contact her didn't really occur to him until after he left Professor {replace}White's{with}MacVittie's{replace.} office.

After another ten minutes, Karel became aware that the seat to his left was now occupied, and he looked over and nodded to the woman who was {strike}now{strike.} sitting there taking notes. Turning back to the blackboard, he forgot for a moment to breath. Mentally shaking himself, he deliberately returned his focus to the lecture.

"I see." Dan clearly did not see. For him, not being sure of his position was a rare thing, both on the football field and off, and he felt himself rising to the challenge. "Say, is anyone going to the {add}department {add.}opening social tonight?"

And they were as surprised as I think we are at how natural it felt {add}for them {add.}to suddenly be old friends.

[JMR201702041226: end-edits]

[JMR201702041221: backup of http://joel-rees-economics.blogspot.com/2017/02/soc500-01-04-meet-each-other.html before fixing the fieldwork location issues.]

TOC

Previous

So, how did Karel and Bobbie end up making each others' acquaintance?

A few days before classes began, Bobbie was seated in Professor MacVittie's office discussing her preliminary plans for her doctoral thesis.

"I see your plans include spending some time observing and interviewing the local people on-location in the islands."

"Yes, I'm hoping to support my thesis with fieldwork."

"Well, I'm not sure we can make any promises about sending faculty to supervise your fieldwork. We may have to ask you to adjust those plans."

"I'll cross that bridge when I get to it, I guess."

"It will be easier to arrange supervision if you can combine your fieldwork with other students."

"I had assumed there would be other students to work with out in the field. But that's not guaranteed, is it?"

"No, it's not. You might be interested in working with another student who is planning his thesis in a similar area?"

"Uhm, his? Only one other student?"

"Uh, yes. His planned thesis is in island economics, and he wants to go to the same group of islands. I'm thinking you would find quite a bit that you could cooperate on."

"You're not trying to set me up with some guy, are you?"

"Set you up? No. We don't play games like that with students' lives."

Bobbie was not looking convinced.

"This other student is preparing for admission to the PhD track program at about the same time as you, and since he plans include fieldwork in the same islands as you, ..."

"And he's a guy."

"As it turns out. Don't hold it against him. If we can't plan on the two of you working together, we're looking at you being out in the islands alone during most of the fieldwork phase. If you're alone, you'll have no backup in case of emergency."

"And girls shouldn't be out in the big, wide, dangerous world all by themselves."

"Neither should guys, without preparation."

"I am a nurse. I am no longer twenty. I think I can handle myself."

"That kind of attitude can put you in serious danger."

"I don't plan on going out unprepared, either."

"That's good."

Professor and student eyed each other warily, not quite sure where the conversation should go from there.

Professor MacVittie decided to push ahead anyway. "Look, I haven't talked with this other student about it yet. I thought I'd suggest it to you, and only mention it to him if you agreed."

"May I ask his name?"

"Karel Pratt. He"

Bobbie cut him short. "He was a football player here about five years ago." Her expression was unreadable.

"You know him?"

"No."

"Football is another of your interests?"

"Football is applied choreography, so, yes." Bobbie laughed. "But my mother showed me a newspaper article about him a month or so ago. It seems that football players with advanced degrees are a rarity."

"He has a bachelor's in physics and a master's in engineering, played football as a walk-on player."

"So he has a wide range of interests, too."

The professor grinned. "Yeah. A wide range of interests, just like you. I never said a wide range of interests was a bad thing. Quite the opposite, really. Anthropologists need a broad base to work from. I just wanted to make sure you realized you'd need to do a lot of work before you could focus on your thesis."

"Nothing about my being a woman?"

"I didn't say that. Woman do need to take more precautions than men when working in less developed societies."

"I guess I'll agree with that."

"You could help each other, if you could ignore the difference in gender. Especially since you are both interested in so many similar things, it should be easy for you to help each other."

"Similar interests?" Bobbie laughed to herself. "I guess I'm being a little defensive."

"You could meet in my office, if you'd feel more comfortable about it."

"I'd rather not meet him where he knows he has to behave himself. If he's interested, he can contact me. I'll see how he behaves, and we can work out whether we'll work together from there."

"So it's okay if I mention this to him, the next time I see him?"

"Oh, sure, I guess."

"I'll be talking with him on the first day of classes. Will that be too soon?"

"No, that'll be okay."

Professor White was not available to review Karel's preparation for pre-PhD work, so he had scheduled a visit with Professor MacVittie on the first day of classes. During their visit, they talked about fieldwork, and the professor suggested he consider working with Bobbie. Karel said he'd talk with her and see.

The question of how he would contact her didn't really occur to him until after he left Professor White's office.

After his meeting with the professor, he went to his first class, a graduate-level cross-discipline survey of education theories and topics. It would be under the direction of a team of three professors from different departments, with regular guest lecturers.

As he entered the lecture room, Karel looked for a seat at the front. PhD candidates were expected to show leadership, and he rightly assumed that the professors who would approve his candidacy and thesis would not perceive sitting in the back as showing leadership.

Whether the supervising professors would be right in such perception is a separate topic of consideration, which we will set aside.

As he moved to the front of the room, he saw some students he knew and greeted them. He also greeted some he hadn't yet met as he proceeded to the empty front row. Choosing a seat slightly to the left of center, he laughed silently to himself at the spurious, but accurate, potential political interpretation of his choice of seat.

Political left and right seem to have about the same meanings in the world of this novel, as well.

Yeah, Karel was a little distracted. He might have had more than one reason to choose the empty front row.

He didn't notice a petite, very pretty blonde who had come into the room after him. She waited, looking around the room, as he moved to the front. When Karel had sat down, she made her way to the seat to Karel's right. Heads turned, but she didn't pay any attention.

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"

If you called her a blonde bombshell, not many would disagree. She, herself, would. It wasn't her fault that some men gave her attention she didn't seek.

"Uhhn, no. No. Go ahead." Karel was still distracted.

"I'm Kristie Person, by the way," she said as she sat down. "I'm in the Master's program in education."

"Hi. Karel Pratt. Pre-PhD, Anthropology." After an awkward pause, he asked, "So this course is in your primary field?"

"Yes. I'm coming in from a bachelor's in PE, so my professors told me to take the survey class."

"I see."

"Karel, so nice to see you here!" Karel was not surprised by the voice behind him.

"Dan! You made it." Karel turned and slapped hands with Dan.

"So introduce me to your friend!" Dan said as he sat down on the other side of Kristie.

"I just met her, myself. Kristine Pierson. Right?"

Kristie was a bit non-plussed, but smiled anyway. "Sort of. My name is Kristine, but everyone calls me Kristie. And Person and Pierson are more or less the same name in Sweden."

Karel grinned sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

"You'll have to forgive my friend. He can be a bit of a goofball at times. I'm Dan Claymount. Karel and I used to play football together. He was much less clumsy on the football field."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Oh, that's right. I remember now." Now she remembers? We'll wink at that. "Dan was the quarterback five years ago, and you were the rover who made all the big plays."

The position of rover is a difficult position, as you can imagine. One has to have a grasp of what is happening with three balls at once, and must be fully prescient about where he can make the most effective play next.

It's also a bit of a thankless position. Even when the big play is made, someone could have made a bigger play if the rover had been there for them.

"He sure was." Dan concurred with Kristie's memory.

"No, I wasn't. Coach saved me to mix things up when we got stuck. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't."

"You're just being modest. I watched a lot of your games."

"Well, so you're a fan of the school's football program, I take it?" Karel tried to direct the topic of conversation away from himself.

"Yes! Football is one of my favorite sports!"

One of the professors stood up just then and greeted the students.

"Welcome, to this year's graduate survey in education topics. I'm Professor Donival. Please check your schedules to be sure you are in the right place." And he proceeded to explain the syllabus and assignment schedule.

And all of the students in the room busied themselves taking notes.

After about ten minutes, Professor Donival shifted from the course outline to the material for first lecture.

After another ten minutes, Karel became aware that the seat to his left was now occupied, and he looked over and nodded to the woman who was now sitting there taking notes. Turning back to the blackboard, he forgot for a moment to breath. Mentally shaking himself, he deliberately returned his focus to the lecture.

At the end of the lecture, Karel turned again to his left. "I have notes from the first twenty minutes, if you'd like to copy them," he offered, opening to the first page in his notebook.

"Thanks. That would be nice," she said, and started copying. We missed her reaction when she sat down by Karel, but when she read Karel's name on the notebook, she was thinking to herself something like, "Of course it would be."

"You could copy my notes back at the apartment, Bobbie," Kristie was being helpful.

"You two are roommates?" Dan asked.

"Yes, actually. If you don't have time, Karel, ...," Bobbie said, feeling, but not showing, a bit of surprise at how easy it felt to say his name.

"No problem. Get it while it's fresh."

"Well, are you going to introduce me, Karel?" Dan prompted.

"Oh. Bobbie Whitmer, meet Dan Claymount. He and I were on the football team about five years ago. Should I tell her what you are doing your masters work in, Dan?" Karel was anything but surprised at how pleasant it felt to say her name.

"Underwater basketweaving," Dan replied.

Bobbie looked up, amused. "Sports education, with a coaching emphasis."

"How did you know?"

"Read your mind. Karel's mind is not as transparent."

"I see." Dan clearly did not see. For him, not being sure of his position was a rare thing, both on the football field and off, and he felt himself rising to the challenge. "Say, is anyone going to the opening social tonight?"

"Maybe we can make it a foursome?" Kristie rose to the challenge.

What Bobbie and Karel were thinking at this point would be hard to say. For separate reasons, they had learned to go with the flow in social situations, waiting for opening gambits to play out before deciding which way to move.

And they were as surprised as I think we are at how natural it felt to suddenly be old friends.

"Sounds good. What do you think, Bobbie?"

"Why not?"

TOC

[No backup of previous versions yet.]

[The original of this chapter can be found here: http://free-is-not-free.blogspot.com/2016/05/economics-101-novel-ch03-introducing.html.]
[JMR201702041221: end-backup]

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