Overheard a fantastic converstaion in a bookstore today. A guy came in and started talking with the owner. Apparently these two were acquainted already since the owner greeted the guy by name and asked him “What have you got for me today?” The guy reached into his bag and pulled out a few books which he hoped the owner might be interested in selling at his store. “They’re about longevity!” he proclaimed. The owner indicated that this was a topic of interest to him since he was “a old fucking man.” So the guy starts telling him about the first book, and after about maybe 4 or 5 words the owner cuts him off. “Is this about drinking your own piss?” It turns out that it *is* about drinking your own piss. So the owner asks what the other books are about. They’re *all* about drinking your own piss. This is where things get really interesting. The two guys start talking about what utter bullshit the whole medical/pharmaceutical industry is, and how “alternative” medicine is a million times better. It really seems like they’ve of the same mind here, but the owner draws the line at drinking piss. “Yeah vaccines are a scam he says, but so is drinking piss!” It’s somewhere around this point where the owner delivers the line that gives this post its title. The fantastic thing about all this is that their tone throughout the whole thing is just totally civil. Like both parties are convinced that the other one is bat-shit loco, but they’re going to hear him out regardless. After a bit of talk about how “This bird-flu bullshit is just a government scam to cull the population, cause AIDS didn’t work” and how “massage therapists are just in it for the chance to rub titties” they exchange pleasantries and go their seperate ways. Then some girl in the shop started telling the owner how cats were smarter than all of us, but he wasn’t buying it, since “why are they in bondage instead of running free through the jungle then?” Around this point I bought a book and left, contemplating the mixed blessing which is online book shopping.