l'esprit d'escalier

[serinde]

This morning, I got up at stupid o'clock so as to take the train in with sweh. I spent most of the journey futzing around with my necklace and hair, as I didn't have myself all together by the time I stumbled out the door. It would seem I missed a deliberately-loud conversation between two putatively upstanding members of the community anent sweh's collar (a simple black leather affair which is in good part hidden by his shirt anyways), in which the words "fucking pervert" prominently figured.

I am greatly wroth with the fact that I missed this, because there are so many perfect lines to use. ... Though undoubtedly the mature thing to do would involve not rising to the bait. Ergo, I throw open my crisis of conscience to the hordes of Livejournal.

[Poll #784032]

Comments

[mangosteen]

In a polite, excruciatingly well-enuniciated voice, say something along the lines of "Excuse me, but I couldn't help overhearing you mention something about 'fucking perverts' at a non-conversational volume. Would you care to elaborate further? I'm sure that everyone on this train would love to hear your opinions on this matter."

Elias K. Mangosteen
President and CEO
Fourth Wall Demolition, LLC

[syringavulgaris.livejournal.com]

I seriously need to bum a cup of moxie off you. The resultant sputtering from the Good Citizens of Bergen Co. would so be worth the price of admission.

[arkham1010.livejournal.com]

Just because they are acting stupid and like idiots doesnt mean you need too. Do you REALLY care what those two jokers think?

[otherwise-nyc.livejournal.com]

I say ignore the bastards.

I'm so pleased you know the phrase "l'esprit d'escalier"!

[syringavulgaris.livejournal.com]

I can only take credit for my choice of friends; I picked that phrase up from Kathryn. :)

[msg1138.livejournal.com]

"Collar? No, this is a swollen lymph node. My God... is it noticeable?"

[elibalin.livejournal.com]

a) Arrange to have them chloroformed and artfully arranged in a Macy's window, dressed in fursuits.

b) Beat them up and take their stuff.

[syringavulgaris.livejournal.com]

I notice these need not be either/or solutions, which renders the combination most enticing...

There's never a jar of chloroform around when you need one, though. Alas.

[naudia.livejournal.com]

Stolen from an earlier poll by bbbsq, this link's for you! NOT WORK SAFE http://www.youtube.com/p.swf?video_id=kqxoeCs4gwU&eurl=&iurl=http%3A//sjl-static12.sjl.youtube.com/vi/kqxoeCs4gwU/2.jpg&t=OEgsToPDskIyTpAW-CEK_l5-Nb0aSRgs

[auntiemisha.livejournal.com]

Start humming/singing the song from the video perhaps... well, it *is* catchy and I've found myself humming it on the subway every once in awhile. :-)

[naudia.livejournal.com]

Funky videos completely aside, there is really no reason to cause an incident over morons acting like morons. The childish part of me would like to have been there to say "Excuse me, would you mind keeping your voice down if you are going to insist on using such profanity?", but the rest of me thinks you should pity their narrow and unfulfilled lives and move on with yours.

[nancaurelia.livejournal.com]

I believe that living well is the best revenge.

Only idiots would have a loud discussion about a subject on which they are completely ignorant. It had nothing to do with you two, so it merited no response from you. They should be so lucky as to have a relationship like yours.

Were Sweh's feelings hurt, or was he amused?

[syringavulgaris.livejournal.com]

Amused, he said.

[nancaurelia.livejournal.com]

Excellent!

[missionista.livejournal.com]

I voted for the "jealousy is such an ugly emotion" response, but if hte people looked like they would not come after you with a baseball bat late at night, then I would totally go with response #2. Idiots. Taking the high road is probably the much better option. As long as they are not trying to legislate away your right to participate in safe/sane/consensual SM, then whatever they think is immaterial.

[sweh.livejournal.com]

They were big chunky guys with very short cut hair and looked like bad news. One black, one white.

I just ignored them and smiled to myself.

[nancaurelia.livejournal.com]

Well, you have reasons to smile. For starters:
1) you know more than them; and
2) you've got something they don't have. nyah nyah!

[missionista.livejournal.com]

Rock on!

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

"Excuse me, i heard you say 'fucking pervert'... is there any other kind?"

[lillilah]

Because I'm so high strung, I'm always tempted by option #4. However, perhaps playing the "I'm getting some" card is a better way to go. I'd say use that as a cue to start making out.

[xlerb.livejournal.com]

Now, the *proper* response to this and even higher levels of same is to be completely unbothered and even mildly amused, and to display this state openly.

I'm thinking, here, of an incident that took place on the 7 train a year and some ago, involving a young lady with one of those annoying bleeping push-to-talk phones, her macho-blustering young male companion (neither of whom I could see from where I was, only hear), and a non-physically-imposing middle-aged woman on the other side of the car who'd politely asked the phoner if she could perhaps lower the volume a bit. It was... bizarre; it went on at length, with the girl whining about how now she couldn't hear her correspondent (with whom she was continuing to talk throughout), and the guy going on and on trying to somehow insult or intimidate or otherwise get the woman's goat, and she was (or at least seemed) largely unruffled by all of it.