inane conversation

What's this about a cat?

"SO YEAH LIFE IS LIKE A TEST YOU GO THROUGH BEFORE THE AFTERLIFE"
"UH, YEAH"
"I MEAN LIKE YOU HAVE TO PASS THE TEST OF LIFE...AND THEN THE AFTERLIFE"
"OR GO TO HELL"
"YEAH BUT I DONT KNOW IF THERE IS A HELL - I MEAN IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE"
"I DUNNO"
"I DUNNO - I DON'T THINK IT'S ALL FLAMES AND SHIT"
"YEAH"
"ITS JUST STUPID"
"BUT THEN WHAT IS IT?"

they then got off the train, so now i'll never find out what hell is like

'soo, what actually happened between (x) and (y)'
'um I...'
'[short pause for breath] right cos i'll tell you what happened me and (y) were just standing there and (x) comes over and is saying all this stuff and (y) is just talking to me and not paying much attention to (x) and so (x) gets stupider and stupider and eventually just says 'bugger off' you see but he didn't look like it was a joke and he looked serious so i think deep down (y) doesn't like (x) but i don't know why she would just...'
'shut up'

word of the day

I do a lot of my writing at a cafe/bar, and I've actually gotten to the point where I'm not bothered by inane conversations -- I know my personal conversations are no less inane than anyone's. What I can't take anymore are conversations that are wrong. I could almost handle the two NYU pre-law girls going on and on about how progressive taxation was appalling and how Obama's election meant they might as well have become teachers (?? - this was followed by a discussion of sample sales and the shoe-related question "what kind of toe is in this season?"), but when one of them said sales taxes were "fairer" than income taxes, because then "you get taxed for exactly what you spend," I kinda wanted to throw my computer at her. That's not even a real opinion! That's just wrong! Nobody who can do math would defend that point! And you are going to be a lawyer?

Sorry about that

Maybe she was saying "What kind of tort is in this season?" and you just didn't here the 'rt' part because she said it quietly. And maybe they'll have to become teachers because then they'll have tort something, if only some students? And maybe she said that thing about the sales tax because she is a fucking sillyhead?

wouldn't 'what kind of tort is in this season' actually be much, much worse?

self-interest overrides facts shocker

That's not even a real opinion!

lol

Seriously, though! I mean, what kind of sane/reasonable person is ever going to claim that sales taxes are non-regressive and totally "fairer" than income taxes, and get taken seriously doing it? Not even flat-tax people really argue that!

Sorry again, these two just really really bothered me -- for NYU-educated future lawyers with strident opinions about policy, their grasp on things seemed more like a drunk relative who sends you nonsensical e-mail forwards about immigration and spends holidays trying to convince you Nancy Pelosi is a communist

why do people assume lawyers are super smart? I've met some v v dumb lawyers.

the conversation i overhear that bothers me on the nabisco-level is the one where some dude starts talking shit about music or movies in a too-obvious attempt to hit on a girl and even if i technically agree with his opinion i am tempted to argue with him because he is so stupid about whatever hes saying

I don't assume lawyers are smart, I just maintain some sort of standard that people studying at NYU and aspiring to go to top law schools think slightly harder about such things, especially when they're complaining about taxes they'll pay on salaries that will likely be way, way higher than mine

xpost - omg, yes, Max, definitely

Similar annoyance at conversations being kinda in your wheelhouse: I get agitated when people are having a good conversation I want to be a part of! Like if they're talking about something I know about, and I have something interesting to contribute.

Related: when people are standing around trying to remember or sort out some point of fact that you have at your disposal, and you stew and you stew and eventually you're like "His name is PAUL RUDD, the guy in that movie is named PAUL RUDD, okay?"

looooool i do that all the time too, i swear i have a whole library of facial expression and body movements that mean "omigod pleaseee can i be a part of this conversation i have things of VALUE to contribute pleeease"

haha that exact actor-thing happened to me on the bus the other day

The only way that hypothetical could be better would be if Paul Rudd walked by as you snapped.

the conversation i overhear that bothers me on the nabisco-level is the one where some dude starts talking shit about music or movies in a too-obvious attempt to hit on a girl and even if i technically agree with his opinion i am tempted to argue with him because he is so stupid about whatever hes saying

― max, Friday, February 6, 2009 9:59 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark

http://www.madisonavenuejournal.com/images/jur131.png
l-r: d-bag, max, vampire weekend

Ha.

I butt in recently and corrected some people having one of those Paul Rudd conversations and they didn't get annoyed, but oftentimes giving in to this urge opens you up to "who is this crepe?"-type eyerolling.

Related: when people are standing around trying to remember or sort out some point of fact that you have at your disposal, and you stew and you stew and eventually you're like "His name is PAUL RUDD, the guy in that movie is named PAUL RUDD, okay?"

even worse than this is the conversation where they MISTAKE one actor for another and are all "hey remember when rachel mcadams was in 40 yr old virgin" only they DONT EVEN REMEMBER RACHEL MCADAMS NAME let alone realize that THATS ELIZABETH BANKS so so its like--they are confusing two difft actresses, neither of whose names they know, and I KNOW BOTH ACTRESSES NAMES AND CAN DISTINGUISH THEM

haha hoos exactly

http://www.movieactors.com/freezeframes22/anniehall137.jpeg
Max, think of the mathematical possibilities!

The same spoon stirs the same pot

My sister overheard the following conversation a girl was having into her phone in a nightclub and we have both become obsessed with it ever since.

To understand it properly you need to imagine it being spoken in an Armagh accent.

"I mean all she does is lie. She's lyin' to everyone. She lies to her mummy and daddy, I mean, I could never lie to my mummy and daddy. And as I says to you, if you lie to your mummy and daddy, you're lyin' to yourself. And if you're lyin' to yourself: you're livin' a lie, I mean, as I says to you: "The same spoon stirs the same pot""

the same spoon as what? what pot? what?

what is an armagh accent

Obviously you didn't imagine the Armagh accent properly.
(xpost)

man, aren't you guys content with proving yr bona fides here 40 hrs a week?

haha it's not about bona fides -- sometimes it's just painful to listen to people grope around for something you have. And you want to help!

Also, honestly, sometimes people have awesome conversations that are really engaging and it hurts that you can't join, but I guess that's another thread.

One time was stuck on subway next to some guy teasing his girlfriend by saying: "Just remember, I'm the boss and you're the horse. I'm the boss and you're the horse. I'm the boss and you're the horse." Over and over again like that, no other conversation, only microvariations in how long he waited until he said it again. Add bonus points for added discomfort of it being rainy day, everything being a little more crowded due to all the wet overcoats and such. Oh yeah, I think his umbrella kind of dipped up and down and had to be avoided everytime he bent a little closer to her to repeat his witticism.

was there a Eurobeat playing in the background while he did this, because that would have been awesome

haha, no.

i don't know if this is inane or just naive and funny or what but overheard on NQRW platform at union square--

girl a: "so we'll take this to brooklyn and switch at atlantic avenue okay?"
girl b: "i thought only the l train went to brooklyn."

jdfkjfdklfjnlds
i felt no compulsion to jump into this conversation.