BLS: Parallel Universes..."black flags and slit throats"

I recently spoke to an assemblage of 50 or so “well-seasoned gentlemen”. My salient remarks prompted several reactions reminding me that within a group that might all share one interest there can still be beau coups of Parallel Universes represented.

This group of 50 or so gentlemen has far in excess of 100+ academic degrees among them and impressive curriculum vitaes that would choke a Clydesdale. One, a particular favorite pal of mine, had flown multiple sorties over Iwo Jima in 1945 including night landings on pitching carrier decks…. as a 20 y/o. His opinion of our current outbreak of “snowflakes seeking safe places” is ….. do you really have to ask?

Among my incredibly insightful remarks I noted that in a first meet with a fellow who “might” have Friend Potential I use a quite unscientific litmus test. I manage to mention Lonesome Dove – NCIS – and Blue Bloods and watch their micro expressions and/or replies. If I get a positive reaction I move on to secondary litmus tests. If I get a negative or no reaction I, in my mind, “ask our waitress for the check” and conclude the initial interview with no plans for a follow-up.

Yes, I likely have passed on some fine folks with this method but have also saved myself social frustration trying to find tangential points of our separate parallel universes. After my remarks I had several in the audience come up to say they had (1) never heard of Lonesome Dove – NCIS – or Blue Bloods AND (2) did not know of anyone who had.

Did I mention this meeting was “inside the bubble” of Chapel Hill. That is probably germane to my point.

Most of the “never heard ofs” were curious to learn more. One, however, belligerently insisted that he had no time for such foolishness.

Then there is my dear friend “Prince Albert” who, as many of you know, has never seen The Godfather – Animal House – or Caddyshack…. but is in NO way belligerent towards the rest of Humanity who have. A total lack of belligerency of any sort is one of Albert’s many admirable qualities.

Speaking of “Prince Albert” I also asked this group of upper tier Baby Boomers if, as boys, they ever pulled the telephone prank of calling a random number and asking “Do you have Prince Albert in a can?” …. “better let him out.” The overall response was far less that I would have hoped. My chance of developing a significant number of “buddies” from this group became dismal. Luckily, I already claimed about a dozen which is aplenty.

No, a familiarity with LonesomeDove, NCIS or Blue Bloods is not essential to a well-rounded Life; but it sure helps.

FWIW…. if YOUR litmus test included Pink Floyd – Breaking Bad – Game of Thrones you and I would not likely become blood brothers.

Blondie and I recently went to dinner with “Robert My Car Guy”, his wife Erin who is like an 8th degree Cross Fit Black Belt; and “Carrie The Accountant / Slumlord” and her new hubby – “Dennis From Ohio”. I did not run my litmus test on Dennis. But if I had he would have passed “cum laude”.

I usually expect to “talk slowly, if at all, and provide subtitles” in such social situations. Dennis “got everything” to my astonishment and appreciation. I informed Carrie that Dennis was “a keeper” which she seemed relieved to have confirmed.

Does my theory of Parallel Universes resonate with you in terms of building relationships? The respective universes do not have to be “in conflict” or even uncomfortable…. simply “unsyncable”… with few, if any, tangent points.

OK, I know what you’re thinking. How could I, being so outspoken about TGU Holocaust Deniers and having publicly estranged myself from my alma mater, find 50 or so people in Chapel Hill who would let me speak without yelling me down or calling the PC Nazis?

These particular 50 or so are about all there are over there that might do so. Plus many of them have sketchy hearing and had no clue what I was saying. That probably helped.

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BE ADVISED:

Several of you have asked me off-line about the obvious uptick in national and regional sports media pundits expounding on “politics”…. with 97% of said expounds being decidedly from the aggressively extreme Left.

ESPN, under CEO John Skipper (UNC’75) has become robustly so, as has a certain Triangle-area multi-media organization with the first three letters WRA…. The ownership of both organizations are hard-wired Limo-liberals. They turn their armies of dumpster-divers loose to rant and snipe on every socio-cultural conflict that rears up. The current epidemic of Gender Terrorism being “the flaming box of dog poop on the front porch” of course.

Whether their on-air pundits share the Radical Left POV of their employers is irrelevant. I suspect that they do in the majority of cases, but certainly are not going to oppose it and remain employed. Can you say “Curt Schilling”?

How might this media trend affect THIS website?

WRAL’s Jim Goodmon and Skipper’s ESPN use their respective “bully pupits” to advance their wacky worldviews. I am the Jim Goodmon / John Skipper of SaidWhatMedia. What appears here and on AgentPierceSaid is from my philosophical POV.

At SaidWhatMedia, AgentPierce gets the “take-no-prisoners… all guns ablazing” assignments. Pierce enjoys seeing liberals heads explode with the zeal that Robert Duvall enjoyed the smell of napalm in the morning.

On this site we make an effort to be “a tad” subtler. We intend to “try” and maintain that unofficial policy but are making no promises….

America is headed full throttle towards socio-political Armageddon. As prominent national / regional sports media blast their overt political propaganda in high volume Tokyo Rose fashion, BobLeeSays is likely to be drawn into the conflict in the way that Mel Gibson’s “Benjamin Martin” was drawn into The American Revolution in The Patriot.

Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats. – H.L. Mencken

We hung out a Board Monkeys Will Be Shot On Sight banner here many years ago. In recent years, we ran off the TGU Holocaust-Deniers en masse. No on-line marketing consultant would have recommended either strategy. But, by golly, somehow we keep increasing our monthly “clicks and views”. Go figure….

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