Sitting down to dinner in a small town outside of Ann Arbor, I overheard what I think was a man who fell on bad times. He cited the hardships of people in Asian countries and his disgust of the far reaching impact of the American military. Trying to sound travel weary and world wise this man advised the couple he was having dinner with nuggets of knowledge from “Study French because it’s an international language” to “You should really take a look at the way Germany’s tax structure”.

The man sitting accross from him seemed to be impressed, while his girlfriend stayed silent and scanned the room for an easy escape route. At one point the loud-mouth shared his views on how the excesses of certain Americans should somehow be levied and given to underdeveloped nations, after which he ordered another plate of fish to get his money’s worth from the all-you-can-eat special. Don’t try to preach equality and complain about America’s gluttony, especially after your fourth helping of fried cod.