Coffeeshop Talk
It is claimed that daily conversations usually stick to three issues: Politics, sports, and the opposite sex. Let's think: The common point of these is that they are subjects that every single person has something to comment on, independent from experience or knowledge. Another similarity is that they get funnier as the level of information on the issue decreases, and the blanks in the conversational content is filled up by spontaneously invented assumptions.
Take politics, for instance. It can be observed that politics is extremely open to every kind of rumor, often lacking any form of foundation. Probably you’ve all heard the story that there’s gold under the Haliç, and the Japanese have proposed to take it out in return for half of the fortune! I’m not even talking about the incredible war scenarios, or the minimized approach to matters of state.
You may guess that most sports discussions are about soccer. I love it when women ask questions about it, especially about the “offside” rule. It is almost impossible to explain it! Pray that there’s something around to illustrate it with, because you have no chance with only words. Also, match commentaries, which last twice as long as the match itself, have a special place in my heart.
Lastly, conversations focusing on the opposite sex include a record number of lies, especially if comparisons of experience are concerned. There’s always a “what women want” type of guy, enlightening his friends about how to behave! Both men and women hate to be discussed by the opposite sex, where the former finds girls’ chat “childish”, and the latter say “men are all the same”.
I have many examples of all of these, but space does not permit. We should admit, though, that they're topics that are fun to discuss with friends - especially in the coffee-shop format: loose, time consuming, and not very convincing!

Efe Peker (POLS/III)