Saturday night in a university students’ house anywhere in the world is likely to bring a random group of young people together for booze and debauchery mixed with loud music and junk food.
My housemate and I had been to a pub and we returned fairly intoxicated a little before midnight with a bunch of people, some we knew and others we didn’t. We sprawled on sofas, chairs and floors, listening to music, eating whatever remnants we could find in the fridge, drinking more beer, and having multiple chats in small clusters.
Someone found Carol King’s Tapestry album and put it on, to universal approval by the crowd. “You’ve Got a Friend” came on and this is where I should have known better than to speak.
A girl sitting next to me said she liked the James Taylor version of the song and I agreed. She also expressed her admiration for James Taylor and his wife Carly Simon who was a singer/songwriter in her own right. In my Sociology elective class I had come across a phrase that I vaguely understood and was dying to use to impress people so, that was my chance. I said: ‘Yes but, don’t you think they are pseudo-intellectuals?’
She sat upright and said: what, you mean like you are being now? I thought for a second then came up with a very clever and cutting reply: ‘NO!’ But, she was not to be put off by my powerful one-word answer and asked: ‘Do you know what this term means?’ I said of course I did so she asked me to explain it to her and everyone else in the room. The room by now had united in their attention to the slaughter that was in progress. With some hesitation, I said: ‘it means they are not intellectuals’. She laughed out loud and said: ‘What does that mean? You have no idea what you’re talking about. What is it about these two musicians that suggests intellect, pseudo intellect or anything other than music. I bet you came across a word with a silent “p” and decided to use it to impress the girls. Prove me wrong and name some of their material that makes your point ’
There were two reasons why I did not name any of their material that might prove their pseudo-intellectualism. Firstly, I only knew one song by each James Taylor’s cover song mentioned above and Carly Simon’s You’re So Vain and I couldn’t make the case for either being anything other than catchy and good to listen to. Secondly, I lost the will to live and needed a rescue plan.
My housemate, Moby came to my rescue by laughing his head off then saying: ‘it serves you right you bastard, you finally met your match, she wiped the floor with you.’
I was pseudo-screwed and I resolved to kill Moby at the next available opportunity.
How was I to know she was studying Philosophy at university and a debate like the one we had was daily bread and water for her?
