Reed and Sue: Social Media

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The flowers were apparently not obvious enough. Sue didn't say anything and Reed was running out of ideas.

He'd been reading up on social norms and courting rituals, and found jealousy was one he hadn't used yet...although, that was almost impossible to achieve since he didn't have anyone to use. Sitting in one of the living rooms, Sue off to one side, Reed suddenly remembered his conversation with Gabriel.  Setting up a profile was easy, it was the picture that was a hard.

"Susan," he called out suddenly.‎"Can you help me with something?"

"You, need help?" Sue popped up from her chair and made her way towards Reed, "That's unusual normally this is the other way around, I'm the one asking you for help. So, what matter of importance do we have on the books today? Curing cancer, solving AI...Tindr...wait what Tindr?" she asked in surprise. "Why are we looking at Tindr?"

"I've been told that this has now become a sort of rite of passage, if you will," he responded, fiddling with his phone. "I tend to miss most social phenomena due to my constraints in the lab but what with training and my own personal lab time...well, I decided that I have achieved more than most men my age. Perhaps it's time to conquer something else.". He handed her his phone. "Help me with the picture, please?"

"Eh, I guess for a certain person, I never thought you'd be interested in the one night stand like that to be honest," she noted as she stepped back and held up the phone gesturing for him to take a pose, "I don't think you're going to find much to conquer here, except for people looking for casual relationships. Although I guess the interactions could be seen as the basic building of all other relationships. YOu know we could get the same result by dressing you up and heading out to a club or something."

"I don't like dancing," Reed replied, sitting up straighter and smiling. Once the picture was done, he combed his fingers through his hair and sighed. "Is that what you do? Go to the club?" he was genuinely curious. ‎ "Does it work?"

"Sometimes," Sue acknowledged, "Sometimes you meet people at parties, or just out for a walk in the park." The blonde shrugged and gestured at the phone, "Something like this is never really going to be a good replacement for meeting people in person, the way they stand, the way they talk can tell a lot about a person. people are busy and don't have time to meet people anymore but I guess I'm just old fashioned."

Reed took back the phone and pondered on what she said. Technology was advancing at an astonishing rate, that much was true, but he'd never seen it as an affront to social interactions. Why did he need to know how a person talked to another?

Setting his profile picture, he looked confused at the app until he figured out how to get the pictures.  "Well, this girl has a dog in her picture," Reed pointed out. "I can extrapolate all sorts of information. For one, she must not be a sociopath -- her dog looks decidedly untortured."

"I don't know," Sue objected, "you have to wonder about the taste of anyone who decides to put their pet in clothes and sunglasses, although it is a Yankee jacket, so I guess she's got good taste in sports if questionable taste in pet attire."

Reed peered closer to the picture and gave a slight nod. He hadn't noticed the pet's clothing. The sunglasses looked okay though. "Doggles were invented to prevent eye damage to dogs. UV lights affect them as well." Swiping left, he went to the next image. "Okay, so she is by herself, no pets, and it looks like she's very studious. Glasses, quiet room."

"Obviously fake breasts with a shirt that is just two sizes too small so she can show off, unless you're into that kind of thing?" She didn't think he would be,  at least she hoped not.

Now that she mentioned it, the shirt was deceptively tight."I don't know that I've ever felt breast implants before. Although I have many doctorates, I've never made the medical field an interest, other than for the obvious x factor."‎ Swiping through a few pictures, he made an 'aha' sound. "There can't be anything wrong with this one. In fact, she's fairly plain. She must have good self esteem to put her picture out there to be judged."

"Hmm, no she appears to be exactly what she looks like, lets see, an administrative assistant with the 5th Avenue Presbyterian Church." Sue gave Reed a glance before deciding to pull in the claws, maybe a she was the kind of person who he was looking for. "She seems like a...nice, normal person, which is surprising given the kinds of people you see here." It was frustrating because Reed was brilliant, but constantly put himself down, so maybe someone who could prop him up and not demand too much was what he needed. It's not like she was a relationship expert.

‎

"It doesn't strike you odd that a church goer would be on such an immoral site?". And now he was joining in on this game, finding the faults of everyone. It was surprisingly easy to do. "What do you think, Sue? I'm finding this more overwhelming than I'd anticipating..."

"There's nothing immoral about looking for love Reed," Sue pointed out, "We're all doing that...though she could have probably picked a better place to start." Sue sat back in her chair and smiled, "Well the path of true love never runs smoothly, just gotta go with someone who seems right for you and hope for the best. TIll then, jsut have some fun."

"I don't want to have fun," Reed responded abruptly. "Fun sounds like what a butterfly would do. Go from flower to flower, pollinating the world. I'd prefer to be more grounded than that."‎

"No one can spend their entire life grounded though," Sue pointed out, "If you do you're missing out on so much. You need to take a risk, have some fun, go on an adventure. Those are the things that make us more than just the sum of our parts, the ability to experience things, to flit from flower to flower sampling everything the world offers. As scientists we're supposed to classify the world, to understand it, but some things need to be experienced to be understood. I can describe to you the exact chemical sequence you feel when you're staring down a 30 foot wave, but that doesn't really let you understand what itfeels like in the moment." The blonde gave Reed a wry smile, "I guess it's our experience that lets us go from knowledge to understanding."

Reed took in her words and nodded slowly, processing it. "You have a wonderful view of the world," he responded after a few moments of silence. "I wish I could see it the way you do."