THE ODD COUPLE
Reader's Digest US|May 2023
It was disdain at first sight. Forty years later, they're still best friends.
Will Schwalbe
THE ODD COUPLE

By the time I was a junior at Yale, in 1983, I'd already met everyone I cared to know. I was friends with most of the other gays and lesbians. I knew the theater people. I knew absolutely everyone in my major-there were only a few of us who had chosen to get degrees in Latin and Greek. And I knew a splattering of visual artists, a handful of comparative lit majors, the odd philosopher and three mathematicians.

I also knew those I didn't want to know. The jocks. And they didn't seem to want to know me. In the dining halls, they filled boisterous tables. They wolfed down epic platters of scrambled eggs. They wore baseball caps backward and moved in packs. The jocks and I were like planets in different orbits, circling one another but not colliding. I felt that if we did, I would be obliterated.

All of that changed dramatically when I collided with one jock in particular: Chris Maxey, known to everyone as Maxey. From the start it was clear that Maxey and I should not be friends. What was less obvious was that I was much more prejudiced against him than he was against me.

Everything began with a visit from my friend Tim. That's when he told me that he was in a secret society for seniors. Had I ever noticed a granite building on the edge of campus? That was the hall where they'd been gathering twice a week all year. Now they were in the process of choosing 15 juniors to replace themselves. Those juniors would inherit the hall and would meet there throughout the coming year twice a week for dinner.

"We try to bring together the 15 most different kids we can find so you'll meet people who are nothing like you." He asked if I would want to join.

この記事は Reader's Digest US の May 2023 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

この記事は Reader's Digest US の May 2023 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

READER'S DIGEST USのその他の記事すべて表示
Cookies for Forgiveness
Reader's Digest US

Cookies for Forgiveness

My blowup was half-baked. The apology wasn't

time-read
4 分  |
December 2024/January 2025
Puff the Magic Pastry
Reader's Digest US

Puff the Magic Pastry

It always rises to the occasion

time-read
2 分  |
December 2024/January 2025
New Year's Traditions Around the World
Reader's Digest US

New Year's Traditions Around the World

1 MOST OF US spend the final seconds of each calendar year watching a nearly 12,000-pound geodesic sphere descend over Times Square in New York City.

time-read
4 分  |
December 2024/January 2025
Mom's Wall-Sign Wisdom
Reader's Digest US

Mom's Wall-Sign Wisdom

She never met a plaque or bumper sticker she didn't quote

time-read
3 分  |
December 2024/January 2025
Protect Your 'Holiday Heart'
Reader's Digest US

Protect Your 'Holiday Heart'

This joyful time of year can also be dangerously stressful

time-read
3 分  |
December 2024/January 2025
Heroes of the Holidays
Reader's Digest US

Heroes of the Holidays

It's not just Santa Claus bringing the holiday magic this season. As you'll see, he's got elves all over.

time-read
10+ 分  |
December 2024/January 2025
The Man Who Looks After His Wife's Ex
Reader's Digest US

The Man Who Looks After His Wife's Ex

For him and his bride, \"in sickness and in health\" meant something really special

time-read
8 分  |
December 2024/January 2025
How Risky Are Those Holiday Cocktails, Really?
Reader's Digest US

How Risky Are Those Holiday Cocktails, Really?

The latest recommendations about drinking and your health

time-read
7 分  |
December 2024/January 2025
HOW ONE KENTUCKY TOWN SAVED ITSELF
Reader's Digest US

HOW ONE KENTUCKY TOWN SAVED ITSELF

Downtown Hazard had lost its small-town mojo to drugs. Former addicts are helping to bring it back.

time-read
8 分  |
December 2024/January 2025
Dream It, Do It, Done!
Reader's Digest US

Dream It, Do It, Done!

Your bucket-list goals, accomplished

time-read
4 分  |
December 2024/January 2025