The Science of Smarts

I

was five years out of school when Mrs. Schwartz called me for shidduch information about my good friend Miriam. I extolled her virtues — smart, pretty, chesed powerhouse, etc.— and asked Mrs. Schwartz if there was anything else she wanted to know.

“How did she do in school?”

“In school?” I asked, nonplussed. High school was years ago, and Miriam had risen to manager in the office where she worked.

“Yes, in school. How were her grades?”

“Great. Miriam was a straight-A student,” I answered, though in truth I had no idea. I certainly wasn’t going to ruin a shidduch based on something as inane as grades. Besides, as I told Mrs. Schwartz, “But we’re not in school anymore, and she’s still smart.”

Look, I’m not denying that academics are important. Yet I was surprised to hear Mrs. Schwartz so focused on book smarts. Aren’t street smarts what really matter in life? We were in the real world now, and Miriam’s street smarts were what carried her — and how.