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What conversation topics are "off limits" for you at a dinner party? Why?


VCH

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I'm applying with a friend for a small Canadian outdoors reality show called Mantracker and was curious what you guys think the question listed in my this thread's title means. That is, what do you think the producers are looking for with this question. I've taken the whole application process as a kind of job interview, as such I'm highlighting the things that would make me a good candidate for the job of prey. And yes I realize it's no good to just make stuff up, to get any job, but highlighting things that you do, or think, that others want to see is never a bad thing.

 

Oh, and to make this thread a bit more interesting I request that anyone that reads it answer the question posed in the title.

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First, my answer to the question:

Quote:
"What conversation topics are 'off limits' for you at a dinner party?"

 

Second, what on earth is a 'dinner party'?

 

Third, I don't think you should be honest in your application, like you suggest. Yes, you have a chance of being interviewed, even accepted, if you are honest in your application. But in a country of over thirty million, odds are someone is more qualified than you.

 

Now, note that I'm not suggesting you lie, or make stuff up, to make you seem slightly more qualified than you really are. You might progress a bit farther in the interview process, but they're probably going to uncover your web of lies sooner rather than later.

 

No, I'm suggesting that you make yourself out to be overqualified.

 

Talk about how well you've evaded such manhunters in the past. Attach several 'Most Wanted' lists that you appear on, and point out that you haven't been caught yet. In the event that you do not appear on any most wanted list, simply commit a crime that would put you on one (remember not to remain anonymous during the act -- any publicity is good publicity!).

 

Or perhaps describe the tactics you plan on employing if you appear on the show. For instance, your bright idea of the prey packing heat, so they can take a more proactive role in the show and increase the level of suspense and thus ratings.

 

Granted, such an application is unlikely to place you on the show. But the feeling of satisfaction you'll get knowing that you've destroyed your reviewer's faith in humanity will be well worth it.

 

(For bonus points, apply for the position of 'Mantracker'.)

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Sex, religion, and politics are the traditionally forbidden topics in an army officers' mess. Actually, the original formulation was 'women, religion, and politics', so the modern version can be unisex, but it should include avoiding anything about romantic relationships or partnerships, not just avoiding explicit descriptions. The custom is not consistently respected, but it is at least acknowledged, so those topics are unlikely to come up at a formal dinner, for example.

 

The point of ruling those topics out is just that they tend to lead to strife, and since armies usually don't consider themselves to be in the business of settling those issues, the strife would be pointless from the army's point of view.

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I'll agree that armies are not usually the first resort in matters of gender and sex, but their role in resolving religious and political differences stretches from the first time two men picked up two clubs to go bash some other men to right now.

 

—Alorael, who cannot help but wonder if reality television really wants anything to be off-limits. Egregious violations of common sense and common decency are ratings gold.

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Originally Posted By: Dintiradan
First, my answer to the question:
Quote:
"What conversation topics are 'off limits' for you at a dinner party?"


Second, what on earth is a 'dinner party'?

Third, I don't think you should be honest in your application, like you suggest. Yes, you have a chance of being interviewed, even accepted, if you are honest in your application. But in a country of over thirty million, odds are someone is more qualified than you.

Now, note that I'm not suggesting you lie, or make stuff up, to make you seem slightly more qualified than you really are. You might progress a bit farther in the interview process, but they're probably going to uncover your web of lies sooner rather than later.

No, I'm suggesting that you make yourself out to be overqualified.

Talk about how well you've evaded such manhunters in the past. Attach several 'Most Wanted' lists that you appear on, and point out that you haven't been caught yet. In the event that you do not appear on any most wanted list, simply commit a crime that would put you on one (remember not to remain anonymous during the act -- any publicity is good publicity!).

Or perhaps describe the tactics you plan on employing if you appear on the show. For instance, your bright idea of the prey packing heat, so they can take a more proactive role in the show and increase the level of suspense and thus ratings.

Granted, such an application is unlikely to place you on the show. But the feeling of satisfaction you'll get knowing that you've destroyed your reviewer's faith in humanity will be well worth it.

(For bonus points, apply for the position of 'Mantracker'.)


Lol thats awesome. It reminds me of the one time me and a friend interviewed for a job as a team, meaning the two of us showed up at the interview, and said we were a package. I think my friend saw it in a movie or something. The interview didn't last long.
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Originally Posted By: Triumph
Originally Posted By: Dantius
Originally Posted By: boggle
what is this Great Pumpkin of which you speak?


PHILISTINE!


QFT

Also, see this for a decent explanation..


Decent but fails to take into account or even mention that Charles Shultz was, in his own words "A secular humanist". It seems unlikely to me that he did not intend for the Great Pumpkin to be a metaphor for Christianity(though one can easily see why he would deny this charge decades ago when it could have cost him his career or worse).
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