We make further non–Anon related talk, about the economy and our friends being laid off. He pines for a time when people will harness the boards and forums for “less protesting and more building connections with people like you.” It frightens him that his subculture “is being reduced to ‘cancer,’ and the only thing that unites [them] is a common enemy.” I tell him he should take his MBA-level marketing skills and become a social-media consultant. He laughs and says, “These are the kinds of things you can’t put on a résumé.”
I leave to go to the restroom and ask him to write his e-mail address in my notebook — which I later open to find they’ve tagged it with “Failure frees the ego” and “Fags for Life.”
After our brief stop at Bar 107, the guys pick up a friend and head to Ralphs to get drinks for the after party back at the loft. Wearing V for Vendetta Guy Fawkes masks (they give me one as well), we barely get a raised eyebrow from the guy at the checkout, who simply asks us if we’re part of a V for Vendetta party. The cashier then launches into a Heath Ledger impression from The Dark Knight: “WHY SO SERIOUS?”
Unbeknownst to him, he is propagating yet another meme.
Editor's note: The quote "a fusion of the romantic impulse with science and technology" has been clarified and is now attributed to its originator, Norman Spinrad.
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