Sitting at the cool table

Remember in junior high, how you'd carry your cardboard lunch tray through the gauntlet between cafeteria tables, warily looking for a place to eat your mystery meat and drink your milk out of the carton? The definition of a dork was the girl who plopped down wherever there was a spot open with a peppy "Hi, girls! This seat taken?" heedless of the vibes that were emanating from those already seated that screamed "Don't even think of bringing our cool table property values down!"

The whole...