October- "So"

"So, that did you guys do today," cut in Zach. There was a short pause. "Anyone?"

Nick tried to visualize a list of his accomplishments for the day. "Classes, internet, did some economy homework..." he ticked off the tasks.

"Good job," said Zach, who felt morally obliged to encourage positive behavior, or, in this case, anything that didn't involve prolonged period of procrastination.

"Yeah," remarked Nick. "I found that the marginal cost of doing my homework, in this case, actually increased my marginal utility right afterwards!"

A short silent greeted his words. It waved and then tripped off blithely to its other appointments elsewhere.

"Nick, just so you know, that was very geeky," Mike finally said.

"This is coming from a math major," said Zach, who agreed with Mike but felt like he should be technically fair.

"Yeah Mike, why'd you become a math major?" asked Nick, who put up with math only so long that he could manage his econ courses.

"I've...told you...before..." Mike answered with the studied impaitence which was partially helped by the fact that the true idea of patience never made it to his personality (there was limited vacancies at the time).

"Sorry, but 'it sounded like a good idea at the time' isn't good enough," said Zach with a heavy over-tone of reasonableness that he knew, and that Mike knew he knew, that Mike couldn't stand.

"Especially since you're STILL a math major," added Nick with the suggestion that this was a serious case of eccentricities.

"Most people don't change their majors once a month," retorted Mike. "Not everyone's as indecisive as you are."

"Touche" [someone teach me how to do accents here] Nick said good naturedly, "So, why are you still a math major?"

"You're not going to let it go, are you?" Mike asked without much hope.

"No," said Zach, quite cheerfully. He added, "and we're not going anywhere any time soon, either."

There was a heavy sigh of expasperation followed tye the particular sound of forehead against a wooden surface. "Truth."

"What?"

"We're still talking about you and math, right?"

"No, Zach, I just decided to randomly say a word for the hell of it."

"Sarcasm doesn't become of you, Mike."

"Not much do."

"I agree."

"Who asked you?"

"I'm just--"

"--truth?"

"What's the closest thing we have to truth?"

"...The stuff we get from books?"

"No kidding."

"No...no. The closest thing is what the most number of people agree on, what the society decides."

"Point! And we see how well THAT ususally turns out."

"It isn't THAT bad, Mike. I mean, look at what we have..."

"No, really, Nick, YOU look at what we have: Spanish inquisition, Reign of Terror, apartheid [someone will kill me one day for misspelling and horrible grammar soon, probably Kate]...I mean, no offense about the Reign of Terror thing.

"Mike, you are a math major and not a geek."

"Right. My bad. And Zach, stop laughing."

"I'm not laughing!"

"You were. And you're going to!"

"But I'm not."

"But you're going to."

"But I'm n--"

"So you hated society and decided to take math?"

"No, I just don't give a damn about anything more arbitrary than solid numbers."

"But aren't variables 'arbitrary'? I mean, that's why they're called variables, right? They vary? Especially in stuff like implicit differentiation?"

"No, I know that, but--"

"And you know math's a human thing, right? Humanity? Society? Ants don't do math--at least not that I know of, and--"

"--ZACH."

"I'll be shutting up now."

[YOu know, as odd as it may seem, I actually found that I missed writing stuff out on paper. Seems to be sort of soothing...in a masochistic kind of way. Wait. Is that...? Can something be masochistically soothing? Er. Oxymoron.]