During a recent conversation I had with someone, we happened to get on the topic of geography. How did it get there? Who cares, it got there. We'll leave it at that.
Anyway, we got to the subject of Scotland and its geographic relationship to England. Being a moderate student of geography, I was dead sure that Scotland was north of England, and as I pointed this out, the other person claimed otherwise. Even though I knew the person was making a big mistake about geography, I didn't want to slam it on them. So, I suggested that we look at a map since it would have been an easy way to decide the issue. Aghast and in shock, I was simply amazed at the other person's reply:
"Let's just agree to disagree."
Agree to disagree...about geography?!? Maybe it's just me, but I wasn't aware that geography was a subject in which people could have "opinions". I mean, is the direction of North really that complex of an issue where people have to take sides on it? When I first heard people use the expression "Agree to Disagree", I thought of it as completely foolish, but I dismissed it as just another expression like How's it hangin'? and Keepin' it real.
Being a complete contradiction in terms, I thought that people would finally wise up to how stupid the expression happened to be after maybe a few years (like they finally did with Vanilla Ice). However, as I heard it more frequently, I realized that "Agree to Disagree" wasn't just another expression...it was part of a whole fucking lifestyle!!!
At that point, I realized that when I heard someone say it, the individual fell into one of either two categories: either the person hated confrontation as much as I hate Hoboken on a Friday night, or the person thought the concept of truth was something less convincing than a fortune cookie message. With the first type, I really don't take offense to it; being a complete coward, the person really doesn't pose a threat to me. I can't be threatened by people who are intimidated by such life-threatening dilemmas as "Will I make it to the bathroom on time?" and "What if masturbating causes cancer?"
Imagine if you ever actually got into a fight with someone like that...
