2 posts tagged “cab conversations”

Night (O you whose countenance)
      
Night. O you whose countenance, dissolved
in deepness, hovers above my face.
You who are the heaviest counterweight
to my astounding contemplation.

Night, that trembles as reflected in my eyes,
but in itself strong;
inexhaustible creation, dominant,
enduring beyond the earth's endurance;

Night, full of newly created stars that leave
trails of fire streaming from their seams
as they soar in inaudible adventure
through interstellar space:

how, overshadowed by your all-embracing vastness,
I appear minute!---
Yet, being one with the ever more darkening earth,
I dare to be in you.

-rilke

Being the outlier that I am I often find things fascinating that other people find boring. One example is my interest in history and geopolitics. I've noticed that in general when I bring it up during conversations with people I know or new people it's very short lived. The curious thing is that the most interesting geopolitical conversations I've had recently are with cab drivers. I was going into work yesterday and I started talking to the cab driver about the weather which turned into the orange crop that got wiped out and then to the price of orange juice. From the crop that failed I talked about a similar incident in Australia last year where the banana crop got wiped out and the prices sky rocketed. The cabbie mentioned it would be strange to think in America about the price of bananas going up because of how it imports bananas. I told him about the US vs EU banana dispute which happened in the 90s where the WTO had to arbitrate. This leaped into how countries deal with each other which meant we got to the middle east.  We talked about what can be done about Iraq at this point and this lead to talking about Iran/Israel and the eventual conflict that will happen over nuclear armament. Unfortunately we arrived at my destination and our conversation had to end. All this from a simple statement about the strange weather in SF.

I like to push buttons and perhaps that's a faux pas but there's a part of my brain that lacks the kill switch to stop (perhaps I have aspegers?). A favorite question of mine right now is if there should be a tactical strike against Iran as it tries to build nuclear weapons. I'll post my views on it at some point (It will be a long post). I ask the question to figure out how people think and how much they know about the world. I've had silence, yes/no answers and long conversations about it. I think people who know me are sick of how many times I ask the question to people I've just met. Silence generally means you don't know or care enough to give an answer (the vast majority of people). The long conversations are fun because it shows you know something about the world. I'm not so much interested in the position you take just that you can articulate your position. The worst answer is a yes/no without any supporting evidence. It would seem better to just say "I don't know anything about it and stop talking to me".

I had some time before meeting a friend for dinner and drinks last night so I picked up the The Journal of International Security Affairs. Before you start whispering "right wing nut" I read lots of different things. I read stuff from all over the political spectrum. I was interested in this issue because it was about US allies in the 21st century and adversaries. I wanted to see what the current hawkish perspective is. It was also an interesting prop during drinks because I know what people thought when they picked it up and said "is this yours?". The look on their face said it all and in particular  in SF people will automagically label you as some kind of conservative. I find it funny because my politics are nothing like that.  Needless to say my conversations with them were rather short.  It may have also been because I was uninteresting and asking inappropriate questions.

It got me thinking about it when I got home. When did I become contrarian? It turns out pretty young. When I was in 1st or 2nd grade we had an international day coming up and we were told to write a speech about the country we were born in. I was born in Sri Lanka so I thought I'd write about my views about it. Every other kid wrote the same general stuff about the country they were born in and why it was so great. My speech started like this "My name is Prasanna and I was born in Sri Lanka and I hate the country I was born in". I then explained while a country rich in resources and unmatched natural beauty it was falling apart with civil war. I have to give credit to my teacher she had read what I had written and picked me as one of the people to give the speech in front of all the parents, students and teachers. I remember the reaction of the crowd when I started my speech and people kept telling me what a brave little boy I was for speaking my mind. To me it's far better to let people know where you stand instead of being silent.

I was having a conversation with some friends during dinner last night about weird cab drivers. I've had a pretty mixed bag in San Francisco but on occasion I've had the most interesting conversations. Mind you some of these conversations are conducted while I'm under the influence but I remember them distinctly. It's a way for me to educate myself beyond all the books I read. Hearing first hand stories of people who grew up in certain situations puts a great deal of perspective. It also shows me how much more I have to learn about the world.

Last night on my way home from a new year's party with some friends I had this intense conversation with the cabbie. After he'd dropped off one of my friends we just started talking. I had left the party being mildly annoyed and I was looking to change my mood. I knew he was from the middle east so I started firing questions away to get his take on things. It turns out he was a soldier in the Jordanian army in a past life. I wanted to know what he thought about king Abdullah II as compared to his father King Hussein. It turns out his opinion was not that high of the son. The incredible thing about King Hussein is how hard he worked in secret to try and achieve some kind of peace between Arab states and Israel. I've always been pro-Israel mainly because they are the only functioning (this part is important) democracy in the middle east and a mostly secular state. I'm not trying to minimize the suffering the Palestinians have endured and there's a great deal of history there. The fact is I remained unconvinced even in the best of circumstances that they could form a free and secular democracy (I would love to be wrong about this).

I appreciate the cabbie's honesty and eagerness to share his opinion. I'm not a shy person and I'm willing to ask questions other people may think are insensitive. I think it's important to try to figure out what people really think and not tip toe around issues. Perhaps this is why a group of my friends have given me the moniker asshole. The one thing the cabbie and I agreed on is how the average person just wants to be happy. They are caught up in the political/power ambitions of others and pay the consequences. As I approached my apartment the cabbie was sorry we couldn't spend more time talking. I would have been happy to ride around many more hours learning about his life. Alas, all good things come to an end but I wanted to make sure his new year started in a good way so his tip was the same as the cost of the cab ride. It brought a smile to his face and some new perspectives to my mind, so I'd say we're even. Not a bad start to the new year thinking about the world :)