Ynot's Den
				Incommunicado
		I saw her sitting in the commons on a bench by herself. She was a pleasant looking young lady. She would occasionally smile and mention to passerbys that she was new here and they would wave and walk past without a word. I watched this for a short while, and it seemed that she would never let her spirits down.      I went over and introduced myself. She acted rather startled to hear me speak. Her name is unimportant to the story. I will call her Clara, for it was as if she were invisible to the world. I asked her how long she had been sitting there. "Since this morning," she said," I come and sit on this bench every day, hoping to meet new people. The Ambassador said greeted me when I arrived, but no one else will talk to me."      I reflected on her words. How could a community that prided itself on its friendliness not go out of its way to see that their new Citizens are made to feel as a member of the family? The answer came to me almost as quickly as the question. It was a matter of size. The orbiter has dozens of operating decks, each with hundreds of people in it. Many more are being added each day. It would be impossible for one person, whether Ambassador or new Citizen, to communicate with everyone.      I asked her if she would take a walk with me. She consented, and as we strolled, I would occasionally introduce her to the few people that recognized. They greeted us, and the brief conversations usually ended with "Call me" or "Stop by my cell for a chat sometime." We came to another row of benches. There were several that were occupied by solitary individuals, and others were empty. I asked her to choose a bench to sit on. She naturally chose the empty one. "Why did you choose this bench?" I asked. " I don't know, it looked comfortable, less crowded." "Yes, it is more comfortable to be by yourself. But you said that you wanted to make new acquaintances; therefore you must do the uncomfortable and strike first and introduce yourself to strangers" I gently admonished her. "As the saying goes, it is only by sticking its neck out, does the turtle get ahead."      I think my point hit home. We talked for a little while longer, and then she said, "I think that from now on, I will make it a point to introduce myself to at least one new person and one established person a week. If every one does that, this place would be so much better." No truer words were spoken.      As we parted, I paused a while to observe my new friend. She had gotten up off the bench, and was approaching a seated stranger. "Excuse me, is this seat taken? My name is Clara, what's yours?..."