The Hidden Message

We did trivia last night at our local pub – out of the money for the first time in about nine months. The quiz was strictly on trivia of the 21st Century, which, one must admit, is pretty damned trivial; any decade in which Britney Spears could be considered a cottage industry on her own – and still is, even given her recent mental health challenges – has some cultural voids that a world of geeks like me couldn’t repair. In any case, I enjoy hanging out after the game and chatting with the guys at the bar over a bheer, because I’m by far the most liberal person there, and it’s nice to see how the “other half”, or perhaps other three-quarters, thinks, in an atmosphere where we can simply shoot the shit, have a good laugh about it, and not take it any more seriously than, say, discussions of the upcoming Super Bowl (which came up) or even Britney Spears (which mercifully didn’t).

My usual friend in this is Chris, who’s one of the older guys there and is a proud and rather crusty conservative. He gets along fine with me because I’m not a Democrat and we’ve even been able to agree on some things (like NAFTA). Paul is one of those my sister says doesn’t exist, politically, which amuses me: he’s a staunch, unaffiliated independent. Can’t stand Bush at all, can’t stand the Dems…his problem is that his mouth goes loud and proud when he’s had a few, so it’s impossible to get in a word edgewise, leaving Chris and me just grinning at each other for a bit until he stops. Rick, the quizmaster, came over to get Paul to stop at one point, and stayed for a bit; he’s a great guy, bit older than me and from New Jersey…likes his golf and is probably the closest lefty to me there. We even had Rob, the barkeep, poke his way in occasionally. Continue reading →

Filed under: politics | Tagged: elections, in the news, politics, trivia night | 12 Comments »