But I would wake up in the middle of the night with a really scathing comeback

posted Fri, 01 Apr 2005

My friends Ross from college and his business partner Ken, who have a graphic design firm in Los Angeles, were in town yesterday to see a client. I always enjoy seeing them, even though Ross is about as far left as I am right. But we have civilized discourse about ideas and do not resort to ad hominem attacks as lesser beings do.

We have had some spirited discussions, both in person and by email. In one exchange, Ross wrote in exasperation that if we were actually in the same location, this would be the point at which we would be throwing plates at each other.

I wrote back that no, I would never throw plates at anyone. Not because I do not have the desire to throw plates but because my people are repressed and unemotional and would never do anything so – expressive.

Not only that, but throwing plates would lead to broken plates, which would be wasteful.

My People Do Not Waste.

And, of course, broken plates would mean a mess, which would mean someone would have to clean up that mess and that someone would probably be me.