La situación es la siguiente: está Jack Knight, Starman titular en el momento, quien es un coleccionista de antiguedades, un fanático de todo lo "viejo" y todo lo inutil, un nerd, un fetichista, un coleccionista. En definitiva, uno de los mejores personajes creados en el comic. Bueno, decía que está Jack Knight sentado en un bar con Sadie, con quien esta comenzando a salir y que luego sera la madre de su hijo. El tema es que estan sentados y se da el siguiente diálogo:
Sadie: And what don't you like? You know. Likes and dislikes. I don't really know any of that.
Jack: Hmmm. Dislikes. Um, yeah, I know. People that profess to know intimate details abour stufff...I'm talking collectibles now, by the way. People who haven't walked the walk...been to the meets and the junk stores and looked around and asked little things and gained their knowledge a piece at a time.
There's an article int he newspaper abour oh, I don't know...old jukeboxes or reddy killowatt, with just enough info that people who don't know any more than what they've just read come up to me at a swap-meets and spout off.
A few well aimed questions by me and I can deflate them, but it still bugs me.
Sadie: Isn'y that a bit elitist?.
Jack: There's nothing wrong with being elite.
Or another example.
This one isn't about collectibles but it's the same kind of thing. I'm in a book store...for new books. I've gone a little bit crazy and I'm about to spend a couple of hundred bucks. I murmur under my breath "money's too tight to mention".
Now the guy behind the register, he hears this. He looks at me, nodding his head knowingly like we're in some "club of cool" together. He says, "Yeah, Simply Red" like it's a password, and now we do the secret hand shake.
And I'm thinking "Simply Red"? Lame english band. More soul at a polka convention. And the book store guy thinks he's on some kind of inside loop with that.
Sadie: Jack, that's the smuggest thing I ever heard. A guy tries to be nice. And you stand there hating him just because he hasn't heard of The Valentine Brothers.
You're like my ex-boyfriend. He was that way about authors. He'd deliberately drop obscure quotes and references. He'd take over conversations at parties. But none of what he read was for the love of it. His knowledge was like a weapon.
Don't tell me you're like that. I don't want another jerk. I've had...
Hey, why are you smiling?
Jack: Because you've heard of the Valentine Brothers.
Absolutamente genial.