わりと良く知っている大学院生がもうすぐ博士号を取る。彼とは数年前、研究の関係で一緒にアリゾナ州のフェニックス(正確には隣町)にある大学に出張に行った。6月末だったと思う。作業を終えて研究棟を出たところでそこの学部生らしき若者に声をかけられた。
「ねえ、君らキックベースしない？」
最初ヤバい奴かと思ったが、至って普通の健康優良青年である。英語の下手な私に代わって一緒にいた大学院生の彼が丁重に断ってくれた。キックベースは無理だ。気温112ºFは無理。ちなみに44.5ºC。しかし彼らは楽しくキックベースをしている。私は生物の適応能力の高さを垣間見た気がする。
A graduate student I know fairly well is about to get his Ph.D. We traveled together to a university in Phoenix, Arizona (to be precise, a neighboring town), a few years ago for research purposes. I believe it was at the end of June. As we were leaving the research building after finishing our work, we were approached by what seemed to be an undergrad from that university.
"Hey, you guys up for some kickball?"
At first, I thought he was sketchy, but he turned out to be a perfectly normal, healthy young man. Because I couldn’t respond well, my graduate student companion politely declined on my behalf. Kickball was out of the question. 112ºF temperatures were out of the question. That's 44.5ºC btw. Yet there they were, enjoying themselves playing kickball. It made me feel like I caught a glimpse of the remarkable adaptability of living organisms.
