#769 Ordinator

When I first went to college we were still in an era when female people going to college were called co-eds. Co-ed had been shortened from “co-educational student” into a word in it’s own right.
On the face of it, it’s a gender-neutral term. Since both males and females were co-educationally engaged, one would think the term would apply to the non-fair gender as well.
But no. There are other things that are non-fair in life and who the term co-ed applied to was one of them. Unfortunately, it always seemed like the implication was that co-eds were not real eds, they were hangers on.
But it got me thinking about that whole “co” prefix. A comate is a mate, a companion. A co-writer is someone who writes something with another. If you are co-equal, you are equal with another.
When one has cohesion, one has stickiness between two things. Hesion being some Latin root word for affinity or something. We weren’t married, we were hesed.
But what about when I coerce someone? Does that mean we are both culpable in some way, that joining my powers of persuasion to his lack of powers of resistance ends up making us both to blame?
And if you can coerce, can you just erce?
Maybe it’s not “co” as in two people but “co” as in colossal. So coercing is a really big ercing.
The other day I was asked to be the coordinator of an event. I complied, but then never got a coworker—my fellow coordinator, to put it semi-redundantly.
Now don’t get me wrong. If they had asked me to head up a task force, or run an event, I would have gladly agreed. But since they ask me to be a coordinator, naturally I assumed I would be working with someone else.
If only because it’s so difficult telling someone I’m the “ordinator” of the event.
Who all’s in charge here?
That would be just me. I’m the, um, ordinator. I hope I can help you. I haven’t ordinated before.
And quite frankly I’m not even sure where they keep the ordin.
America, ya gotta love it.