Yet the allure of algebra is seductive, and in gullible hands it spawns such silliness as a formula for the socially acceptable age difference in a romance. According to some sites on the Internet, if your age is x, polite society will disapprove if you date someone younger than x/2 + 7. In other words, it would be creepy for anyone over eighty-two to eye my forty-eight-year-old wife, even if she were available. But eighty-one? No problem. Ick. Ick. Ick . . .
