Socrates

After heading home from the lab yesterday, i decided to pay a visit to a nearby coffee shop - called Port City Java, apparently a chain, but unlike the ever-present Starbucks (slowly taking over the world, i'm sure) it's not one that i've seen in the UK at all (correct me if i'm wrong. It does happen, although i'm often loath to admit it). Anyway, once in the pretty busy shop i ordered in snappy American style (grande non-fat latte to stay), only to be asked to repeat myself - i guess it doesn't roll of the English tongue the same way (either that or she wasn't paying attention). So, duly latted, i took a seat and began to peruse the free City paper which, amazingly for a free paper, has content worth reading (unlike some of the USA Today, i might add). It was then that i noticed a particularly large group of people at one end of the shop embroiled in some kind of discussion.

Out of curiosity (and because i'm a nosy sod at heart), i pricked up my ears to see what was going on. A sign at the far window proclaimed this was the "Socrates Cafe" - a group, i guess, who meet from time to time to have a good ol' fashioned debate akin to the public forums that were commonplace in Ancient Greece about the time of Socrates and fellow philosophers. The debate in question was focusing on ideas of good and evil (surprise, surprise for the Deep South!) and, as you'd expect, there was something of a religious slant to it all. However, i was quite surprised to hear a pretty reasonable and balanced debate on all sides - leading ultimately to a conclusion that are very few absolutes and many many shades of gray. At least all save a couple of people who seemed to be unable to grasp anything beyond a black and white view of the world (sounds rather like George W.). Anyway, listening to this made me feel rather more positive about being in Charleston (not that i wasn't already, i should say) - thankfully it seems that not everyone here is straight out of "Deliverance"! Now where did i put my banjo?