Heavenly Meeting
by Robert Hamill

   The Pearly Gates admit many an illustrious member. Every Thursday at 7, an active group of blessed Mensans have in a speaker. The latest was Albert Einstein. His topic, of course - Relativity.
   After a few preliminary comments with numerous witticisms thrown in from the floor, Einstein warmed to his topic. "The notion of an absolute space …"
   "Initiated by Newton," the stentorian voice of the Mensan leader, "elaborated over two centuries, until Mach cast the first real shadow upon it."
   "Yes, yes." Albert snorted. "Absolute space presupposes a structural rigor that I found …"
   "Don't you think," a local bright light interrupted, "that the big bang implies a preferred position? An origin from which cosmological formulae would be more simple?"
   "No, of course not," objected a rival bright light. "Everyone knows, hey Albert, that there is no preferred coordinate system."

 

 

    Albert's hair appeared to have been recharged by a Van de Graaff generator. His eyes bulged a bit. He shuttled out of the room.
   He was heard to mutter, "Every time they interrupt me, they divide my presentation IQ in half."