What Does That Mean?

I think it’s safe to say that State College is a pretty smart town and I don’t mean classy (however it definitely has some panache), I’m talking intelligence. People in this town are very academic but that stands to reason as Penn State University is located here. As with most major university towns there are a lot of people that don’t want to give up the college lifestyles they’ve grown accustom to and therefore try for a PhD (or post-doc for those who really can’t handle joining the workforce).

Based on this, I think it’s safe to say all my friends are smarter than I am. Granted, I possess a boatload of useless knowledge that comes in handy from time to time but book learning is not my bailiwick. I figure if I surround myself with big brains than maybe some of their intelligence will rub off on me. It’s like smartening up by osmosis.

One of the down sides to having smart friends is the vocabularical barrier that exists. I noticed this recently when I was talking with my friend Ieva. She started throwing out multi-syllable words that I didn’t understand. This made for an awkward exchange because I had to keep interrupting to have her define terms or dumb them down a bit.

It’s amazing how a seemingly innocuous discussion can be dragged out when you have to stop for definitions. I could have just ignored the fact that I didn’t know what the hell she was saying and let the conversation flow, but I thought it would be better to point out the chasm that exists between our levels of word comprehension. Someday I might catch on and become a more active participant in these conversations, but for now I’ll stick to head nods and blank stares.