Imperial

Genius

39 genius It was nice being a genius worth nearly half-a-million dollars for the two or three minutes it took me to walk back to my house from the mailbox, the letter from the Foundation trembling in my hand. Frankly, for the first minute I was somewhat surprised at being a genius. I had only published a couple of things at that point. I didn’t even have a book. I was just a part-time lecturer at a small Midwestern college. But early into the second minute I had fully embraced the fact of my genius. I mean, these guys know what they’re doing, right? Who am I to tell the Foundation its business? And I was already rehearsing the modest, hey-it’s-no-big-deal tone of voice I’d be using on the phone for the rest of the day as I called all my friends and, especially, my enemies, to share the good news. But when I opened the letter and found it was merely a request for me to recommend someone else to be a genius I lost interest and made myself a ham sandwich. ...