Red Shetland, protester?

[vakkotaur]

I wore one of the Red Shetland t-shirts today. I expected I'd eventually get some comment about it, and I did. I just got something I hadn't been expecting. The shirt I wore had this image or pair of images on it. The left (part of the) image is on the front and the right (part of the) image is on the back.

At the restaurant tonight, a lady spotted my shirt as she was leaving and proceeded to misread it, repeatedly, "Whatever don't kill you..." and I obliged and stood up, turned around (and brushed my hair out of the way) "...maims you!" One would expect that be that and a chuckle had. Nope.

"Is that an anti-hunting shirt?" "No."
"Is it about Iraq?" "No."
"Is it an anti-war thing?" "No."
...and some of this repeated with variations on the theme.

I was finally able to explain that there is a saying "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger" and it really isn't true. Then she claimed jmaynard and I were too deep into philosophy for her or some such. One of the younger members of the party seemed to get it right off, or at least appreciated the artwork showing Red Shetland. I doubted I had time to explain anything about the character Red Shetland.

Comments

Re: "Common" cultural heritage

[foolscap001.livejournal.com]

The closest I ever got to philosophy was reading a bunch of Bertrand Russell and attending a lecture by Willard van Orman Quine. Also, I blundered through the minimum required English/literature hours. (Deluded by my ACT/PSAT scores, they stuck me in honors Engish.) Despite all that, I still recognize the line as a takeoff on a line by Nietzsche.

OTOH, I'd be looked on as a ignorant dolt by, say, the 19th century British officer in India who exercised admirable economy of phrasing when he cabled back word of his military victory as peccavi (Latin for "I have sinned;" he'd just taken Sind).

[kinkyturtle.livejournal.com]

To be precise:

Whatever doesn't kill you either
[1] makes you stronger,
[2] makes you weaker,
or [3] doesn't affect you.

[bronxelf-ag001.livejournal.com]

Then she claimed jmaynard and I were too deep into philosophy for her or some such.


Aww.. You hurt her widdle bwain. You made her actually *think* about something for more than a second and a half....


Fucking asshats. Another one who needs the sterility ray.