This story was about a woman named Julie Lindquist. She is a bartender at a bar called the Smokehouse. Here she records people’s conversations so she can study them. From her research she realizes that no matter what class you are a part of, once you are in the bar everyone is the same. She came to this conclusion because everyone seemed to talk about the same problems of their daily lives.
One person in particular who attended the bar on a regular basis was named Jack. He shared common interests with a political candidate Ross Perot. He was so passionate about his beliefs that he put them towards his want of attention at the bar. He got into heated arguments with others about his views, partly because he liked to stick up for his beliefs and partly so he could be the center of attention. Being the center of attention would cause him to build up a status in society. Lindquist believes that this is basically what everybody wants – to be a part of society.
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I agree with what you say about Jack. If he didn’t know about Ross Perot, he would have chose another subject to argue about. Him and the rest of the people at the bar were just trying to fit in to their society
How are you defining society? Where in society does Jack fit in or want to fit in?
Lindquist is arguing that Jack is already fitting in–he is part of a distinct socio-economic group–the working class–that shares a particular culture.