Still subversive

Badger goes to an office Xmas party:

Later Rudie pegged me again while lamenting the fate of a friend of his whose wife refused to have 14 children or even three and told him she was stopping at two, she was 35 and wasn't going to DO that... and how sad for him, he had no way to make her do it and could only hope wistfully for twins. Then he looked across at me making a sort of rude motion with his chin and saying that I might think differently. I grinned evilly into his eyes and said that technology would someday help his friend to get pregnant himself and then he could have as many children as he wanted. It was lovely, like a cartoon where someone is knocked out and their eyes turn into little x's.

And also:

And of course I was wondering madly. How does no one talk about differences? And that we're all from various countries? and politics? and what are everyone's perceptions of each other's region/language/class/caste? I was curious as hell. It's not like I can tell from accents where people are from in India.

Yes! I always want to know the sociological-personal details. Is the influence of American and European companies on their newly middle-class employees lessening class at those companies? How do people deal with that? Are there anti-discrimination hiring laws?

It's not like I would mind if I were in, say, the Ukraine and someone asked me, What is up with all the overly demonstrative Christianity in the U.S. anyway? or You know, you guys are always talking about human rights, but I noticed all the people stranded in New Orleans were black, so just how advanced on human rights are you anyway? or Does everybody in the U.S. have a gun? I can't think of a single "embarrassing" or even aggressive question about the U.S. I wouldn't try to answer if I thought the questioner really wanted to know my thoughts.

But on second thought, perhaps there's something privileged about my own status as a white male American that makes me think I have all the questions and all the answers, when in fact my understanding of the caste system in India is actually just about nil and I wouldn't be able to ask an intelligent question anyway.