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QotD: McVey on Facts and Sentiment
I resent your using recent, factual personal observation to undermine my vague, sentimental conjecture.—Gary McVey
The other day, @garymcvey jokingly said this, but haven’t we all been in a discussion with a person who was really like this?
Published in Group Writing
That’s like the wisdom of the ages. Or aged.
Well, he does have a birthday next Tuesday, Mardi Gras.
That could be the next great PIT saying, except its too long for most of us to remember. Four-five words; that’s the sweet spot.
Don’t be a grok-blocker?
Oak aged, single blend, and bonded postwar Scotch! Oh, and Irish.
I never said it would stack up against the true PIT greats, like “Burn in Hell, Fools”, or for fans of the internet of things, “IP on Everything”.
Ah, gentlemen, we have another Heinlein referencer in our midst. Welcome, brother.
An early example on film of pointing out facts vs. sentiment: “Public opinion, manufactured and organized, with money and brains. Somebody’s out to get us”–from “Destination Moon” (1950).
I’m lucky to remember the two or three word ones.
My truth? My truth? Child, it is the truth. But I am willing to share …
It’s a bit like the wife who vents and the husband who offers solutions.
My God, man, let the woman vent. It’ll be over in 5 minutes if you make sympathetic grunting noises and let it go.
Thanks for the tip, Stina, but were you allowed to tell us that?
Is she allowed not to these days?
Are you kidding? I have even been a person who was really like this. But all seriousness aside, yes, it was a very funny representation of a not-too-rare phenomenon.
I certainly have been in conversations where the other person was really like this but, of course, I have never myself been like that. To the best of my recollection at this point in time.
I think I heard it in the PIT: This too shall pass. It may pass like a kidney stone, but eventually it will pass.
I like the tactic of asking her stupid questions and/or asking her to clarify trivial details of her tale of woe.
a) It shows that you’re taking an interest.
b) It’s incredibly frustrating to her because it throws her off her rhythm, thereby discouraging her from ranting too much in the future.
Feigned incompetence gets one out of all sorts of bother.
Since that quote was in response to me, I have like it.
But I’m still going to offer solutions to presented problems. Dammit.
Because, otherwise, what are we doing except kvetching?
He said, in the PIT -ish.
My quoted remark (Thanks, Arahant!) is a rueful admission that you had the facts on your side and I didn’t. That’s what, at best, internet argument does: it distinguishes levels of judged authority. If you’ve been to Canada half a dozen times the past few years, you’ve got that authority, not me.
Needless to say, blog discussions would end quickly without legit, or sometimes not-so-legit grounds for arguing anyway. Hypothetically, sure, you may have the recent experience under your belt, but maybe you’re blinded by distaste for poutine. Even my faded, outdated view of that country might be usefully informed. Hey, it could happen.