What are your thoughts on discussing politics in the MDR?

[d9704011]

24 minutes ago, Korimako said:

I am fully aware of what 'breaking the ice' means.

This is what I found to be totally incomprehensible. 

"What Did Mr. Spock find in Captain Kirks restroom?"

 

See post #214.

[TheMichael]

4 hours ago, Aquahound said:

 

Probably not.  Then again, some people just can't admit that Southpark, season 8, episode 8, hit the nail right on the head.  

 

Nah, to hit the nail on the head, over half the kids would have had to refuse to vote.

[Korimako]

5 hours ago, d9704011 said:

See post #214.

I have, but I am still none the wiser. Is this a North American thing?

[ilikeanswers]

1 hour ago, Korimako said:

I have, but I am still none the wiser. Is this a North American thing?

 

Maybe this will help:

Meaning of Log

[Korimako]

And is that supposed to be an amusing conversation starter???

It’s what I might expect from a nine-year-old.

[d9704011]

2 hours ago, Korimako said:

And is that supposed to be an amusing conversation starter???

It’s what I might expect from a nine-year-old.

See post #218.  Typically, this is the point at which you'd be admonished to 'read the whole thread'.  In this case, I think you can be forgiven since there isn't much of consequence to learn by doing that.

[DarrenM]

16 hours ago, JRG said:

 

"Breaking the Ice" is a figure of speech meaning that somebody has to get the conversation started and it might as well be with humor, as opposed to a starting a political debate.

 

 

Oh I dont know. I combined political satire with humour on the previous page.

 

Not sure it was totally welcomed.

 

Politics is divisive, but I reckon I can outdo that with my british sense of humour, which is sometimes missed by lots of folk. And not just Americans either. 

 

Lots of british people have no sense of humour either.😉

[ldubs]

On 2/4/2024 at 4:47 AM, CDNPolar said:

 

No, really?  Come on... Now that I have completed my 100th cruise and 5 world cruises, I find that hard to believe!

 

Only 5 huh?  

[ldubs]

On 2/3/2024 at 9:30 PM, cruisemom42 said:

After reviewing all of the potential topics that are off-limits, I have finally formulated a dining room conversational strategy that I think will work well.

 

After introductions are made, I will immediately launch into a monologue on parallels between the late Roman republican era and the modern-day US with special reference to .....oh wait, that's skating close to politics. 

 

Well, I can launch into a monologue on the foibles and personality quirks of the Roman emperors and ..... but wait, will that offend those who don't want to hear gossip about royalty and celebrities?

 

Shoot, I'll just bring my Kindle and read through dinner..... oops, no, that will be quickly spotted by the eagle-eyed among us as a humblebrag.

 

Hmmm, room service is looking good.

 

🤣🤣🤣🤷‍♀️

 

Well, you could bring up the effectiveness of  hand sanitizer during the black plague. 

[JRG]

10 hours ago, Korimako said:

And is that supposed to be an amusing conversation starter???

It’s what I might expect from a nine-year-old.

 

This next conversation starter is more universally accepted. 

 

And yes,  Star Trek humor is a slice of North Americana TV, Circa late 1960's, so no harm, no foul.

 

When asked "Where Are You Guys From"....

 

.........You can answer back with "I am from Venus and she is from Mars"  

[DarrenM]

Coming from North east England its quite amusing when we are asked where we are from, because I am sure I sound Scottish to lots of American folk.

 

 

 

 

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, DarrenM said:

Coming from North east England its quite amusing when we are asked where we are from, because I am sure I sound Scottish to lots of American folk.

 

 

 

 

We generally know when folks are from parts of Yorkshire or New Castle since we cannot understand a word 🙂

[JRG]

On 2/4/2024 at 3:39 PM, d9704011 said:

See post #214.

 

See the Saturday Night Live performances by John Belushi, Dan Akroyd, and the venerable William Shatner portraying Captain Kirk for the various Star Trek parodies which rank among the best of SNL.

 

Especially the version  "The Last Voyage of the Starship Enterprise"

 

 

[K32682]

5 hours ago, DarrenM said:

Coming from North east England its quite amusing when we are asked where we are from, because I am sure I sound Scottish to lots of American folk.

 

 

 

 

 

It's better to mistake an Englishman for a Scot than to mistake a Scot for an Englishman.😉

[DarrenM]

12 hours ago, K32682 said:

 

It's better to mistake an Englishman for a Scot than to mistake a Scot for an Englishman.😉

Cant argue with this.

[clo]

17 hours ago, K32682 said:

 

It's better to mistake an Englishman for a Scot than to mistake a Scot for an Englishman.😉

And Glaswegians?????

[zdcatc12]

On 1/28/2024 at 5:35 PM, capriccio said:

 

Having lived and worked for the federal government for most of our careers, we know better than to  ask and prefer not to be asked.  Even many retirees can't - and therefore won't - give a straight answer.

Yes, I retired as an air traffic controller in the FAA and I always hate when people ask me what I do/did. I try to get away with saying that I worked for the government. When they push it and I finally tell them what I did, the first thing that 9 out of 10 of them will say is, oh, that must have been stressful. I always hate that because I know that statement is coming and I don't have the heart to say that 90% of the time, that it wasn't!!!

[lenquixote66]

On 1/28/2024 at 12:18 PM, navybankerteacher said:

It takes a bit of self-discipline:  keeping your mind on the topic, and not what you personally feel about the topic. 
 

Of course, when you are seated with a group of strangers the odds are that one or more of them will lack such self-discipline.

 

I recall a professor in a Government course - who managed for the whole semester to avoid disclosing his personal political views.

I took an Elective in Latin American History in my Senior year of college.

On the first day the Professor let everyone in the class know that he would be teaching the class from his political point of view.He explained that he was giving anyone who wished the opportunity to drop the course without penalty if they so desired.Three students did so.

[lenquixote66]

On 1/29/2024 at 4:47 PM, ontheweb said:

If other passengers ask you about your job, and you tell them that you are one of the ones checking them in when they cruise, I bet they ask you for stories.

I have had 4 distinctly different careers in my lifetime.I was able to choose which one and have described all 4 on cruises but never more than one per cruise.

[navybankerteacher]

5 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

I took an Elective in Latin American History in my Senior year of college.

On the first day the Professor let everyone in the class know that he would be teaching the class from his political point of view.He explained that he was giving anyone who wished the opportunity to drop the course without penalty if they so desired.Three students did so.

So, in stead of teaching history (which was his responsibility) he essentially campaigned for his political beliefs.   I would have been inclined to drop the course myself on principal - regardless of whether his point of view jibed with, or conflicted with, mine.

[lenquixote66]

In all my years of cruising nobody ever attempted a political discussion with me.If they were to do so I would politely decline.

[lenquixote66]

2 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

So, in stead of teaching history (which was his responsibility) he essentially campaigned for his political beliefs.   I would have been inclined to drop the course myself on principal - regardless of whether his point of view jibed with, or conflicted with, mine.

He was actually the best Professor that I ever encountered in all my years of higher education .He was absolutely brilliant.

[navybankerteacher]

3 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

I have had 4 distinctly different careers in my lifetime.I was able to choose which one and have described all 4 on cruises but never more than one per cruise.

I’ve enjoyed three distinctly different lines of endeavor: military, finance and education - because they never conflicted with each other, there never was a need to avoid briefly discussing aspects of all three - sometimes at the same dinner, if it ran late as sometime happens if you are fortunate to have a good group.

[navybankerteacher]

5 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

He was actually the best Professor that I ever encountered in all my years of higher education .He was absolutely brilliant.

I do not doubt his brilliance - rather I question his motivations and, at bottom, his qualification to teach.  It is one thing to let one’s personal views be known, but something entirely different to let them warp objectivity.

Edited February 10 by navybankerteacher

[lenquixote66]

On 2/5/2024 at 8:16 PM, JRG said:

 

See the Saturday Night Live performances by John Belushi, Dan Akroyd, and the venerable William Shatner portraying Captain Kirk for the various Star Trek parodies which rank among the best of SNL.

 

Especially the version  "The Last Voyage of the Starship Enterprise"

 

 

I was in the audience at the very first SNL show.It is hard to fathom that it will be 50 years this year.