Oh, the people that you will meet.
Tonight is Super Bowl Sunday, but that was not why I was at a sports bar. That was for dinner, as it was close and I didn’t want to cook. I’d have to do some grocery shopping as well. Over the din of fans and children, I found a spot on the patio. Truth be told it was to smoke a cigarette. It’s a touchy subject, but I cannot lie about it.
Depending on a person’s point of view, I either had the fortune or misfortune of being either entertained or held hostage by a sir of some 50 years of age. He started with commenting on the football game. No one around here appreciates the “handegg” label I’ve applied to it. I thought the suggestion was rather convincing myself. Regardless, he spoke highly of Seattle’s coordination and ability. I merely wanted to smoke my cigarette and wonder if Sancho Panza truly believed he was going to get a parcel of land out of Don Quixote, or if he was playing along for the ride.
Then the conversation took a turn. That is to say, he went straight into politics with little warning. Now, I’m not a huge fan in talking about something I don’t have much control over to start. It’s often the same love or hatred for one politician or another, or the intricacies of a bill/law. He wasn’t talking about that though. No, he was talking about hardcore conspiracy theory. The gentleman was of the impression the entire globe was priming up for the next world war.
What the Devil do you do with that? It’s like being dressed for a cookout and taken to a black-tie event. You instantly don’t want to be there. How do you unroll, with no time for consideration of thought or delivery (ESPECIALLY delivery), while it’s possible conspiracy theorists can be right they can also be very wrong. Conspiracy theorists are convinced no matter what. It’s not even a discussion; it’s being talked at.
I’ve tried to think of several ways to get people of this nature through the whole ordeal without too much fuss, and then I can go about my interests. It’s currently to let them talk at me, and have them go back to their business. That never seems to be enough though. They want agreement. They want validation. That is thought bullying, and I don’t care for it.
He started off with his version of an “intelligence test,” which I don’t think I passed but that’s inconsequential. The disputed quote from Albert Einstein is, “everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” It has some validity. No human can know it all, although many often think otherwise.
After letting him ramble for about 10 minutes, I finally excused myself for dinner. Otherwise, it would have been much longer than that. He wouldn’t finish. It was verbal diarrhea at its best. I’m not going into details, but he’s convinced it will start with the bombing of Israel and roll into global destruction. Again, what is there to discuss? The world has had a history of war and destruction as far as people have kept records. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t, which is the way it has been in the past. Am I to quake every night about it? Do I have control over the powers that be to bring about the Age of Aquarius?! No, of course not.
It’s times like this that I think of Kurt Vonnegut, and his use of the Serenity Prayer. It also brings me to the question: when does one believe people like Nietzche’s madman and when does one throw him out of the church for running amok?
Corvidae in the Fields 
The conspiracy theorists spend their lives looking for solitary people whom they can coerce and cajole into some form of agreement…..it’s happened to me quite often, Nate:)
There should be some sort of pause button for them, Roger. That way they can hold their opinions until after I’m finished with the bar.
Hah! What a maroon! People like that are only entertaining for a couple of minutes. And what kind of sports bar lets kids in!
Why, the Fields do, Laura. It’s a regional restaurant similar to a Buffalo Wild Wings, but with a game room. People bring their kids in there all the time. Come to think of it, I know a tavern that allows minors in until 9:00pm. They do have a kitchen which serves lunch and dinner, but it’s pretty much a bar.
Sweet! Mom and Dad went a a local that was next to a park. We used to play on the jungle gym in the dark – it was all kinds of fun. Some kid hid thier plate with bbq keilbasa under our couch cushions yesterday. bbq sauce everywhere. SO not in love with kids right now!
It seems like I get approached by someone like that every time I go anywhere. That’s one reason why I stay at home most of the time. At least he didn’t hit on you too (unless you left that part out).
I’m not sure. That speech may have been his very special way of telling me he’s in love with me.
My father-in-law is very doom and gloom as well, and I don’t know how you can get up happy each day living like that. I’m stressed enough as it is, not working, not commuting, living basically at ease. I can’t fathom how soon I’d have a heart attack if I actually thought the world would end soon. And so what if it does? Then we go where we think we’ll go. No point in me fearing it. BTW, your saga reminded me how we met a crazy old fart at a candy shop yesterday, who started in like you say, just verbal diarrhea at my son minute after minute. We tried to be kind bc he was old, but then he started in on Leary’s acid expanding your mind and how Bush 41 is good but Jr is bad, how he believes in the spirit wind bc he is part Cherokee, he wanted our emails, etc. We left soon after, but as I drove away, I wished I’d popped a cap in him and let him hit the floor instead.
A Sno-Cap, I’m sure. Right, kerbey? 😉
For legal purposes, let’s say yes.
My dad can be like that from time to time, and I eventually tell him my hearing aids aren’t working. Ha.
It’s about all you can do. There’s no changing an opinion like that.