Alumni Hour

So yesterday I went to my first alumni event. Granted, it wasnt a pton event (i was on the down low as a tiger) but man, it was amazing. These ivy leaguers sure like to stick together. The yale group was mixed in with a whole bunch of stanfordees. The conversation was fantastic. I mean, if i can survive five minutes of your normal life stories, of course i want to hear about the college thesis you wrote about charlotte bronte before deciding that finance is your life.

At some point, the stanford bunch realized they were hungry because you know, they all work in finance. This lady got up and started rattling off her resume. "My name is bbbb and i work at goldman sachs. I am also the president of stanford honkong alumni association and my colleagues and i are all starving because we work in finance." They care about finance so much that they even sacrifice their tummies for the furtherance of capital. REally touching.

But the MOST impressive guy was really the stanfordee who is taking a masters in buddhism. Imagine a really tall yuppie blond guy sits down. He starts off saying he is taking a break from corporate world, nyc, usa. Starts off okay. Then i ask him if hes buddhist and he says, "Buddha wasnt a buddhist." Im thinking haha, funny, wise guy. And then the conversation turns for the worse.

"So howd you get interested in Buddhism?"
"Well, i practiced yoga and healthy eating to help me deal with the stress of a corporate job. Buddhism has a lot of applications, like promoting mindfulness."
"MIndfulness in finance?"
absolutely serious face - Of course

the conversation sorta stopped there because i decided that laughing in his face and mocking him for academically pursuing Buddhism not as religion but as lifestyle might be a little miuch for my first alumni happy hour.

There must be some level of sick irony at play when...

Condi Rice pleads for the American people not to cede Iraq to killers.