It’s Johnny’s first day at school. He’s terrified, he’s lost, he’s disoriented and confused, he wants to know why his mother left him in this horrible place, and who are all these strangers he is being forced to deal with.

Miss Cleveland is teaching her first class, already she’s lost control of them, two fights have already broken out and the kids are throwing spitballs and will not be quiet. She’s wondering if she is in the right career or not.

Geraldine is a sixth grader, the other girls pick on her all the time, she wants to just die, they never leave her alone, she is so ashamed and so hurt, she can’t stand it much longer.

Grady is in love with Veronica, the way only a 12 year old can be in love. And she doesn’t even know he exists.

Mr Sanchez has inherited pretty much all the kids he had last year. They are good kids and he gets along with them and works well with them, it’s going to be a great year, he can feel it.

It’s Consuelo’s first day, too. And she doesn’t speak a word of English. What is she to do?

Mr Washington knows if Principal Douglas retires this year, he has a 50-50 chance of getting the job. His only rival is that bitch Miss Summers. He hates her stinking guts, and he wishes Douglas would make up his mind, one way or the other.

All these people live in the same social universe, and each perceives it differently depending on his or her perspective of it, as well as their own needs, experiences, capabilities, and intellect. Everyone of them is affected differently, and reacts distinctly. But all those universes are equally valid, equally real, and equally important. There may be similarities and overlap, but each lives in a different reality. These realities interact and are interdependent, but they are not the same. Each of those individuals is faced with a different set of problems and potential solutions, different hazards and opportunities, and for the most part, the experiences and actions of the others are of little or no use to them.

Each inhabits his own universe, and they are all equally legitimate, yet distinct. And for each of those people, the universe surrounding him is the only one that really matters, each is at the center of, and must deal with, his own personal reality, not anyone elses. If he is aware of the others, it is only in the way it relates to his. There is no rule book, no manual, no laws of physics. But this is not a dream, and it is not a fantasy. It is objective reality. We don’t all live in the same universe, we all make it up as we go along. We all are forced to deal with what is largely our own personal universe, one of our own making.

Mr DiSalvo is the custodian and handyman. He has two things on his mind, the stopped-up girl’s bathroom on the second floor, and the malfunctioning thermostat in the cafetorium. He lives in the same universe all those other people do, but he sees it very differently. He passes Johnny in the hall, and their eyes meet briefly. Both are totally unaware of the other’s reality. But both those realities are real, and both matter very much to them.

Edwin Hubble once remarked “We are, by definition, at the very center of the observable region.” But unless we precisely define ahead of time just what aspect of that universe we are going to talk about, like physicists do, we all experience and affect alternate universes. The physicist’s universe, the world of forces and fields, particles and waves, may be the universe we all live in, but it is not the universe that matters. We live in a subjective reality largely of our own making. Matter, energy, space and time may be very important, but they are not what we deal with from moment to moment, and to be perfectly honest, knowledge of that physical world is rarely of any real use to us as we navigate our own personal space.

Beware. Do not let the success of the scientist delude you into the arrogance of thinking you have any true knowledge of the external world; even of the tiny little piece of it you inhabit.