*gah! face*

My dad recently ran into some people of note in the course of his job. One set was the Couple from Hell. They had every complaint one could possibly have, invented new ones each day, complained and cursed and tiraded, and on top of that somehow the contractors managed to spill stuff and break heirlooms each day (the wife even got some of them to do her laundry and fold her clothes, underwear included). At first it seemed they were playing some sort of manipulation-game, the husband and wife playing off of each other for advantage and unbalancing; as my dad spent more time around her, though, there was a point where she eventually broke down and sobbingly explained that she was in constant fear of her husband, and their literally almost never spoke to each other except for him to curse and scorn her. Not sure where to go with that, except to note the interesting shift a little more information can make in a situation, and that rich people aren't happy just for being rich, as the cliche goes.

The other interesting person he met was an elderly Japanese gentleman; my dad, finding common interest in his swords and bonsai trees, struck up a conversation with him. Apparently he had ranged around the world, and apparently ended up in the USA after having trained American spec-ops people in Europe after World War II. Long story short, the conversation turned to US troops in Iraq, and the Japanese gentleman suggested that the Americans were some of the technically best fighters in the world, but that they weren't killers, and would be doing 'better' if they were such. My dad queried (or rather, really, challenged), like the Japanese in China? (hinting at atrocities committed) The immediate answer was, "Exactly!" Which threw my dad off a little, needless to say. But it was an interesting exchange.