Short Story - Meeting Relativity, by Joe Grand

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     “Not a true believer in the curvature of space among them. Not a single devotee to the concept of bending light. You know Relativity’s theory is based on non-Euclidean geometry.” Once again he seemed to wait for some kind of response. I didn’t know what to say. This was followed by a deep sigh and a withered look. “If I let you in the way you are dressed Relativity will not think you are serious - by coming here dressed like that you are simply announcing yourself as another disbeliever. The first thing you have to do is get another pair of pants. The heresy of those creases!”

     I glanced down at my legs. Two lines ran down the front of my pants legs. “Let’s see”, he continued, “I have a pullover you can borrow.” He began to look me over as if I was a figure he was deciding to paint. “No socks allowed!” He stated this with great certitude as if it were the final stroke of his brush. “But first, ten dollars.” When I was suitably attired and paid up I was led down this hallway toward a door. We stopped outside the door. “I should like you to take a look at this painting.“ He turned to the wall opposite the door. “What do you think of it?“

     ”It is a very nice streetscape.“ I replied.

     “It is a lie!!” he said with conviction. “The perspective is all wrong and the vanishing point simplistic.”

     With those final words he turned and opened the door and I walked into an office. I was quite surprised to hear the door close behind me, leaving me alone. The room was dominated by a desk of generous proportions covered

from corner to corner with at least an inch of paper. An old-fashioned oak office chair was positioned behind it and the bookshelves that lined the walls were filled with a combination of books and piles of papers held together with elastic bands. Off to one side was a large blackboard covered with mathematical symbols, as many as there were papers on the desk. 

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