Working with Partners

It sure is awkward meeting someone new.  Not if you want to, though!  I mean, I'm all for meeting new people.  It can just become awkward if you have nothing to talk about with this new person.  Thankfully, school sort of forces you to talk.  I'll express this in terms of a play.  Why?  Because I feel like it.

SCHOOL

        (impatiently)

Come on, come on!  Talk to this person!

DREW sits in the computer chair uneasily.  He fidgets slightly as the chair SQUEAKS beneath him.

DREW

        (cautiously)

Do I have to?  I don't even know what to talk about...

SCHOOL menacingly slaps DREW, as the the SNAP of skin upon intangible nothingness is heard throughout the class.

SCHOOL

          (ferociously)

You fool!  Just introduce yourself and write about virtues!

DREW

        (sobbing)

Yes, Mr. School, sir.

END SCENE

Now, wasn't that just beautiful?  It was better than Shakespeare.  I'm sure with that incredible, soon-to-be-Oscar-nominated scene, you can see how it works.  Though the school (in this case, a thinly-veiled abusive Mr. Langley) has us write to these strangers, they gently push us into it.  What makes it all the easier is the fact that there is no actual physical or verbal contact between any of us.  Sure, it's the coward's way of going about it, but that's why it works.  You can't just take some students over to Farmington, introduce them to their new partners and say, "All right, well you three mingle.  Oh, and go on out for a cup of coffee and discuss about our latest topic whenever you can!  Ciao!"  It just doesn't work that way.  This is what allows students to sort of easily move into such a big change.

What is more interesting is the fact that the internet and technology seems to have disconnected humans from each other, but in some way also brought them into one point.  They can converse easily and passively, yet change the setting to a simple get-together at the park, and many will only be standing awkwardly, trying their best to not associate with anyone in fear of the awkward introductions.  There's two odd opposite poles to the value of the internet.  There are connections being made, but are there really connections being made?  Phone was considered too impersonal at the time of its conception, and some could say it still is.  With text messaging being a prominent thing in society now, where has the development of communication gone?  Sure, you're "talking" to a person, but you're doing this through kilobytes of data and numbers, not through interpersonal, verbal contact.  That's what's scary about the rise of technology; the overall dependence upon it.

But I digress.  I really digress.  Partnering us up is a great way to get us to meet and collaborate with new people, but not in an awkward, I-don't-want-to-do-this kind of way.