A Knock at the Door

It's Friday night, and I sit down after my very-off-key Karaoke rendition of "YMCA" at Makenna's Saloon, one of my small-town's few places to socialize. I look around at the crowd: all people I know, most drunk or well on the way. Maggie, the bartender, seeing I'm drinking Diet Coke as usual, catches my eye with the dim hope that I will offer to drive someone, anyone, home. But she doesn't ask, she knows I won't, and she knows why. She doesn't blame me: she won't either.

Social Construction of Reality

Critical Thinking Question Chapter 6 #3: George Jean Nathan once quipped, “I only drink to make other people interesting.” What does this mean in terms of reality construction? Can you identify the elements of humor in this statement?

Social Construction of Reality is the process by which people creatively shape reality through social interaction. The quote, “I only drink to make other people interesting,” attributed to George Jean Nathan, shows aspects of reality construction. The speaker is not necessarily pleased with the reality he is in (people are not interesting to him) and that he is altering his version of reality by drinking to make people seem more interesting.

Nathan obviously finds himself surrounded by people he does not find interesting, who to him are dullards and boring. He does not find this situation pleasing to himself, so he alters the reality he is experiencing by drinking (although it is not known if Nathan was a heavy drinker). Drinking is a simple way to alter one’s reality - it dulls the mind - in this case making Nathan’s mind less sharp, thereby making the people around him seem more interesting, more intelligent.