Social Ethics
I like how that title up there makes it seem like this post is going to be all serious and legitimate.
It's totally not. I'm just bored after work, and writing rambling thoughts on the screen. Lucky you. And lucky for me that no one really reads this on the weekends.
The question I have is:
Is it ethically wrong for me to decide I don't like a new co-worker based entirely on the fact that he said he was a Barry Bonds fan? I'm just not sure how anyone can be a Bonds fan, without at least making some concession re: the doping scandal. I mean, who seriously cheers for the 'roid raging over-grown playground bully? No one I care to know, that's for sure.
So, I briefly wondered if I make snap judgments based on sports, movies and pop culture too often. Maybe I shouldn't write off potential friends for their sports preferences, crappy taste in movies or whether or not they watch Fear Factor.
I say "briefly," because in the next breath said party confirmed the validity of my initial judgment when he called the Minnesota Twins "pathetic."
We will never be friends. It couldn't be more obvious to me, after that.
The sad fact is, for the utter ridiculousness of most of my friendship litmus tests, they're almost always right on the money.
At least as far as my interactions with people go, anyway.
I won't say that someone who likes Barry Bonds is a bad person, per se.* But I will say that it's more than likely that we do not share similar values or perspectives. Someone who doesn't laugh at Anchorman probably isn't the Anti-Christ, but it's safe for me to assume that we may never have a meaningful connection or mutual understanding.
The things I like (and dislike) are important to me. They both demonstrate and help shape the kind of person I am. So, is it really wrong for me to gauge the probability of friendship with new people based almost entirely on them?
I know that there's more to a lasting friendship than having the same favorite Fraggle, or agreeing that PCU is one of the most underrated movies ever made. But it sure doesn't hurt.
*It's entirely possible though.
It's totally not. I'm just bored after work, and writing rambling thoughts on the screen. Lucky you. And lucky for me that no one really reads this on the weekends.
The question I have is:
Is it ethically wrong for me to decide I don't like a new co-worker based entirely on the fact that he said he was a Barry Bonds fan? I'm just not sure how anyone can be a Bonds fan, without at least making some concession re: the doping scandal. I mean, who seriously cheers for the 'roid raging over-grown playground bully? No one I care to know, that's for sure.
So, I briefly wondered if I make snap judgments based on sports, movies and pop culture too often. Maybe I shouldn't write off potential friends for their sports preferences, crappy taste in movies or whether or not they watch Fear Factor.
I say "briefly," because in the next breath said party confirmed the validity of my initial judgment when he called the Minnesota Twins "pathetic."
We will never be friends. It couldn't be more obvious to me, after that.
The sad fact is, for the utter ridiculousness of most of my friendship litmus tests, they're almost always right on the money.
At least as far as my interactions with people go, anyway.
I won't say that someone who likes Barry Bonds is a bad person, per se.* But I will say that it's more than likely that we do not share similar values or perspectives. Someone who doesn't laugh at Anchorman probably isn't the Anti-Christ, but it's safe for me to assume that we may never have a meaningful connection or mutual understanding.
The things I like (and dislike) are important to me. They both demonstrate and help shape the kind of person I am. So, is it really wrong for me to gauge the probability of friendship with new people based almost entirely on them?
I know that there's more to a lasting friendship than having the same favorite Fraggle, or agreeing that PCU is one of the most underrated movies ever made. But it sure doesn't hurt.
*It's entirely possible though.
posted by Flamingo Jones at 5/05/2006 10:24:00 PM
2 Comments:
Rambling is one of my all-time favorite hobbies.
I'm glad to see you're back online!
"...[then] started conservative rhetoric aimed at me....[I] asked her how she liked driving around in her SUV while my friends die in Iraq."
Ah, the irony is delicious.
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