Last month I attended the Auckland Writers & Readers Festival, and one of the sessions I went to featured Adrian Wooldridge from The Economist (who I interviewed later that day, but that's for a different post). After Mr. Wooldridge finished his talk about American exceptionalism and evangelical religion and the current state of the Republican Party, the moderator opened it up to the audience for questions.
And you know that one guy (or girl, but it's usually a guy) who always seems to get his hands on the microphone at these things, the one who doesn't really want to ask a question as much as he wants to impress everybody with his super awesome rambly argument for five minutes? That Guy?
Yeah, so this time That Guy was an American (go team!) and he stood up and announced to the auditorium, "Well, of course, as you know, we are finally beginning to realise that despite all his soaring rhetoric Obama is just as bad as Bush. With his continuation of the imperialist war in Afghanistan and his use of secret CIA prisons, it's clear that the military-industrial complex has..."
And it was just about here that a perfectly sweet-looking older lady at the back of the room rolled her eyes and yelled, "This isn't a question!" To which half the audience muttered, "Seriously!"
For a moment he stood there chuckling and trying to pull his dignity together, and then, bless his heart, he actually tried to pick up where he left off and ramble on some more. This time everyone slumped in their chairs and groaned out loud, and Mr. Wooldridge started laughing and waving his hands, and the moderator asked if the gentleman could please get to the point already, until That Guy mumbled "So, uh, had you considered that?" and sat back down.
And that is why I love New Zealanders.
