Yesterday at the office I witnessed a brilliant discussion between a freeper and a conservative.

[YOY]

The office FReep is infamous for talking about shit he doesn't understand and/or know as instructed by his pundits. He chimed up about the educational system and proceeded to tear apart the undergraduate level of education after describing his disappointment with the 'punks' from high school that are allowed to continue into it.*

In front of myself (who has realized a while ago that to talk with this man involves me calling him a "fucking idiot" repeatedly...perhaps not the best idea these days), I remained silent shaking my head, he was ranting in front of a clueless Indian immigrant, and a self described conservative republican woman (she is the LAST Republican I would call a FReeper).

His ranting included everything from comparing Bill Gates (who did not finish undergrad) to Al Gore (who for some reason he considers a monument to stupidity...) to saying that undergraduate education is a joke and how useless it is ad nauseum...

Now this piqued the conservative lady's anger, who is a Northern Catholic type of Conservative. She is far from uneducated, well mannered, a bit religious at times, but not an incredibly illogical human being. She asks what about folks like herself? What about president Obama (who she actually does not dislike but considers to be quite "on the ball")? Oh...he just laughed as if he knew something but couldn't explain...and she asked him again to put into words just how ineffectual the undergraduate level of education is to the real world...he just keeps on laughing like he knows something.

She blows up. This little Asian lady blows looses her cool with him...something that I have never seen her do. Says something along the lines of "If you cannot put it into words then keep it to yourself." She has paid for her own education and put her son through undergrad as well. He's doing really good and she's pretty sharp herself. He just shrugs and goes away.

Later on I told her to just ignore him. He can be a decent human being when he wants to but doesn't know how to shut up about politics...especailly when he doesn't know any better.

It is fascinating that there is this schism between "conservatives" and "tea-bagger"-types (dittoheads/baggers/ignorami etc.) Once again bringing out the main difference between the two: one speaks English...the other is a bad stereotype brought to life by that Mark Fiore cartoon that pissed them off so badly.

* Note that this man has a HS level of education and has taught as a substituted teacher (so yanno...he's an expert). He's also the guy who thinks Marxism is a political system (much to the confusion of an Englishman who works with us and tried to explain it to the FReep slowly and carefully....poor fellow) and considers himself a financial investment expert despite going bankrupt twice and being audited by the IRS.

[Cirque du So-What]

1. Sounds like this assclown needs to have a nice, long conversation with HR

He's constructing a virtual multi-level condo for ill feelings to dwell in the development of a hostile work environment. I'm not privy to this dickheimer's complete repertoire of verbal diarrhea, but I'm betting that at least some of his codswollop is outright illegal for everyday office conversation. This sort of problem can fester for some time before suddenly blowing up in everyone's face - including those in management, who do NOT want to give depositions or otherwise testify in a civil suit.

At the very least, a sit-down with HR may get him to STFU.

[YOY]

2. He's careful about what he says.

He never says anything that could be construed as racist or homophobic. He never cusses.

I on the other hand cuss like a sailor...but am indispensable in my functions, so it is not my place to report anyone.

[Lorien]

3. I wish I could say that I haven't met many people like the Freeper at your office

but low intellect, low information hypocritical "experts" are a dime a dozen here in Florida. They all seem to be cast from the very same mold (which comes to us all via Limbaugh, Beck, O'Reilly, Coulter, Hannity, Savage, etc. etc. You know; "The liberal media").

[YOY]

4. Mine never approaches me directly, as when he starts on some crazy streak I bet him money.

Real money. He never follows through.

[boppers]

5. We have MIHOP, they have baggers.

Politics (and society) is rife with people who know "truth", and mock others for not knowing said "truth".

[Better Today]

6. Okay, I'm a bit confused.

First, he has only a HS level education, but he's allowed to be a substitute teacher? I've never heard of that before.


Second, he is somewhat correct, imo, about undergraduate degrees. My daughter got hers by age 21, graduated HS at 16. Oh, goody, she thought, now she can get a good paying job. (Worked her way through so has no loans to worry about, thank goodness) Yeah, NO! The job she has now pays all of $3000 a year more than the one she had through college, and she is in management now. It was quite a disappointment.

So next January she starts her masters' program, but even after that, she only expects to just get into the $35-40K salary range. It's a sham, imo.

[YOY]

9. Some states, that's all it took a few years ago I guess.

n.t

[msallied]

7. I work with a self-proclaimed teabagger...

And she's a full-blown idiot. While teaching a training seminar I was attending, she used Bill O'Reilly as an example of how he helped us to screw the French economy when he told us to stop buying French wine, and how now they have a more pro-American President in France because of it. I wanted to throw up.

[senseandsensibility]

8. You can't be a substitute teacher

with a HS education, so he is lying to you.

[YOY]

10. Maybe it was 20 years ago and in a state where he could do it.

Although frankly, from his stories...I wouldn't put it beneath him.