ollege that you're automatically smarter than other people. But
I got a theory, like, that it doesn't make any difference if you spent
your whole life going to college, you still wouldn't wind up smart if
you didn't start that way."

Ross began to mutter something, but Crowley snapped, "Shut up for a
minute, I'm talking." He resumed his condescending tone. "Just for
example, take a couple of guys who got to the top. Edison in science and
Khrushchev in politics. For all practical purposes, neither of them went
to school at all. Khrushchev didn't even learn to read until he was
twenty-eight years old.

"Then take Dr. Braun here. He's spent half his life in school, and
where's it got him? He'd make more dough if he owned the local garage
and dealer franchise for one of the automobile companies in some
jerkwater town. And look at Ross. He'd probably make more money playing
pro football than he does messing around with all those test tubes and
Bunsen burners and everything. What good has all the school done
either?"

Dr. Braun said gently, "Could we get to the point?"

"Take it easy, Doc. I'm in charge here. You just sit and listen. The
point is, you three with your smart-Aleck egghead education started off
thinking Mr. Common Man, like you call me, is stupid. Well, it just so
happens I'm not. Take Pat there. She's smarter than you two, but she had
the same idea. That this here country boy isn't as smart as she is.
She's going to fox him, see? As soon as she saw the way the cards were
falling, she started buttering up to me. She even figured out that I was
probably right in this room listening to you planning how to trip me up.
So she pretended to take sides against you."

"Why, Don!" Patricia protested.

"Come off it, kid. You probably hate my guts worse than the others. You
were the one who thought this _particular_ average man was a slob. That
all common people were slobs."

Patricia's face went expressionless, but Ross, knowing her well, could
sense her dismay. Crowley was right. She had been trying to play a
careful game but their supposedly average man had seen through her.

Crowley's voice went thoughtful. "I been doing a lot of thinking this
week. A lot of it. And you want to know something? You know what I
decided? I decided that everybody talks a lot about the Common Man but
actually he's never had a chance to, like, express himself. He's never
been able to put over the things he's always wanted."

"Have