Beth and I went to Starbucks last night to renew our lifestyle. I actually drank one of those vanilla things, on the theory that caffeine is not my friend after a certain time. I mean, I take my grownup medicine at other times but. it's not a relaxing place really. how do people get work on their laptop done there, or get kneedeep in The Times' intellectual penetration of society? the noise of drink production is uncanny, the sound system blared the mellow musical stylings that Starbucks has copyrighted, and a loud conversation ensued. I tried not to listen but impossible to avoid. religion and science. the conversation seemed like the way college intellectuals burn the midnight oil. one guy referred to the difference between the religious view of The Beginning and the scientific view as a Dissonance, and liked that 2-bit word so much that he repeated its usage. see, it's a dissonance. another guy, I realized, lead the conversation. in leaving to fetch more liquefaction (portmanteau: liquid satisfaction!!!), he left a question for the others to discuss. something schoolish about that, almost professorial. and the other 2 dutifully chugged with the question. the guy getting the drinks offered to get some for the others, which somehow struck me in this instance as a bribe. he was terrifically polite in a way that made me suspicious. at one point, Beth responded to a point that the leader made. we definitely were within their cone of non-silence. she apologized for jumping in and the lead guy graciously accepted our presence officially. I said nothing but Beth made a few points. the lead guy more and more revealed his Christian orthodoxy. to which I find no reply and nothing to discuss. faith versus proof, take your pick. I mean, I find it a lack of imagination if one can't comprise creation myths and Big Bang type definitions simultaneously. the other 2 were science guys, perhaps just off the train from Brandeis. in response to one science point, the lead guy quoted that familiar jingle, something like, I believe in Jesus Christ because the Bible tells me so. I suppose Tom Aquinas might make a similar claim, finally, but he puts it in more buff terms. anyway, the guy was very polite but very definite. he even followed us out the door to finish a point he needed to make. Beth thought he was a Mormon, which is likely. he clearly was trained, he was very well dressed and pleasing, like a salesman. the impression I got was that any of us were just hunks of meat that the guy had to 'prepare'. missionary work.