No, I'm just here for the noise

A few weeks ago, I was at a local bakery cafe, which hosted one of the regional Democratic Congressional candidates. While others were milling around waiting for the candidate to start, I was sitting reading a magazine. An older man walks up to me and says, "What baseball team do you like?" It seemed like a thoroughly random question but I obliged. "The Red Sox."

Then, when no baseball chatter followed, I went back to the magazine. A few seconds later, he asked, "Is baseball more important than politics?"

"I beg your pardon."

"Do you think baseball is more important than politics?" he repeated.

I was really baffled by the question and a bit annoyed by the not-so-subtle hint of condescension in his voice. The implication seemed to be that I conformed to his stereotype of a politically apathetic young person. I really couldn't figure out any other motive for the question even though it seemed like a particularly bizarre suggestion to make at, um, a political gathering. Maybe he thought I was someone who randomly straggled in just to grab a loaf of bread.

"Why do you ask?" I said, not really trying hiding my agitation.

He pointed at my cap (which, ironically, was actually a soccer hat). Without saying a word, I showed him the cover of the magazine I was reading. The political magazine I was reading. It had Secretary of State Colin Powell on the cover.

"Oh, is that liberal or conservative?" he asked. Not offering any hint of an apology for either his condescension or the incorrectness of it. He quickly shifted into figuring out where the magazine and (by implication I) stood in his dualistic view of the world.

Silently, I showed him the cover again and ran my finger across the title headline, which made it clear that it was an article critical of the Bush administration.

"Oh ok," he said. I started reading the magazine again and he mercifully walked away.