It's Friday. For most people, this means the end of the work week, relaxing and unwinding. Unfortunately, I get to work late tonight AND possibly this weekend-- thanks to an "unplanned" network outage and poor planning/organization on the part of certain people. This sets the stage for my mood tonight.
By the time I'm done working on the piece that was required tonight, it's 8 PM and I'm starving. I head for my favorite local Greek restaurant to get an omelet. On my way in, this young guy in a button down shirt and tie approaches me-- he seems familiar. Maybe a former student? He asks me if I'd be interested in hearing the words of a living prophet-- which really throws me for a loop, to be honest.
See, I believe in a Creator, but I've got serious issues with organized religion (aka churches). Some of the most bigoted, hypocritical people I have ever seen have been in the heart/throng of a church congregation.
On top of all that, I'm pretty sure there's a scripture in the Bible that pretty much says God wasn't sending any more prophets after Jesus, and to beware of people who claim they are prophets afterwards-- since they are bound to be false ones. So now my radar alarm is really going off.
Of course, I don't say any of this to the young fellow, I just tell him that I'm really not interested in hearing what he has to say. I keep moving towards the door to the restaurant.
A smart person would have let it drop, right? Not this kid, though. "Who do you know that would be interested in hearing the words of a living prophet?"
Pushy little prick, aren't we? At this point, I don't even try to be polite and just turn my back on the guy.
I just want to get dinner, and not have someone try to proselytize me. Go figure, if a guy sits out in front of a coffee shop and plays his guitar, doesn't even speak to anyone, people will complain/threaten/call the cops/whatever it takes to drive him away-- but a religious nut can verbally harass and pester me as I walk into a restaurant, and he's protected by the Constitution.
But wait, there's more!
After dinner, I decide to head up to my local coffee shop. I just want to say hello to some friends, listen to some music, and drink some caffeine and unwind from all the work-related nonsense of the day. At the counter, while I'm ordering my drink, some guy bumps into me and doesn't say excuse me or in any way acknowledge that he's just bumped into me. Okay, shit happens-- move on. Except about a minute later, when I move down to the end of the counter to pick up my drink, the same dude deliberately goes out of his way to walk down and bump into me again.
This time, I can smell the alcohol pouring off him, and I realize he's just another drunk, angry young minority, looking to pick a fight to "get even with whitey." He figures if he keeps standing too close and bumping into me, that I'll eventually say something and he can justify starting a fight. I ignore him, and after a while, he's not sure what to do and retreats to the men's bathroom in confusion.
Maybe I should tell the Christian nut to "save" the angry, drunk minority? ;)
By the end of the evening, police are called to respond to complaints about the drunk moron. Imagine that, you go out in public, intoxicated out of your mind, and make crude, suggestive remarks to women, deliberately bump into them, try to start fights with people-- and then when the cops show up to deliver the consequences, you act like it's all a discriminatory plot against you.
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