I am pigeon livered, a wussy, weak, gutless, fraidy-cat, wimp, feeble, pusillanimous, spineless, panty-waist, sissy, pushover, yellow-bellied poltroon.
We had the usual too much food yesterday. I was contemplating seconds but my roommate's son started off on the 'global warming is a hoax and Al Gore this and Al Gore that and all these scientists know nothing and it's perfectly simple' and also his usual Libertarian crap (he believes that it is illegal for the govt to levy taxes, among other things) and I left the table rather than commit several felonies. Just as well, I probably didn't need that second plate of food. The steam was curling out of my ears and the moisture would not be good for it, I'm sure.
Why didn't I stay and argue? Well, partly because I didn't think I could shout him down. I knew if I got into it I would lose my temper, and that would not help my case any. Partly because he's one of those guys who is convinced that every thing is a conspiracy, that people who have spent their lives studying and working in scientific fields are all part of this conspiracy, that they're being paid off by some nebulous entity (probably George Soros) and that all of the statistics proving the existence and causes of global climate change are fraudulent, after all- just look at the Midwest! There's no global warming- there's lots of snow! And he went on to explain how the scientists don't understand how ocean currents work and how El Niño isn't the problem that they think it is, and how he's found out the truth and he knows better than they do, etc etc etc. This from a guy who didn't finish a Bachelors.
Trying to get into it with him would be an exercise in futility. I might as well go bang my head on the sidewalk- I'd accomplish as much. It doesn't help that he generally has very little respect for women. He thinks those with college educations are snobbish elites. And I knew that it would just make for a very unpleasant evening if I jumped in to the conversation.
So why do I feel so bad about getting up and leaving the room? Why do I feel like I was somehow shirking my Liberal Duty to try to convince him of the error of his ways?
And why is the pie all gone? When I went to bed, there were two people still up, and a whole pumpkin pie. Where is all the pie?