don't tell me zebras can't be domesticated

last night i went out for drinks with some folks and had a relatively ridiculous interaction with an older man sitting to my left. i brought the book i was reading to the restaurant because i'm a nerd and always have a book with me in case i'm sitting there waiting for someone. which i was. the book: Guns, Germs, and Steel. an interesting book that discusses why it is that european culture came to be the prevalent world culture, why it is the europeans tended to be the conquering folks, etc. very compelling and fun and thought-provoking. and written by a guy who won a macarthur genius grant, so obviously the guy's not a total moron. so my friend shows up and i set the book down, little knowing that the older man who's about to sit on my left is about to feast his eyes on it and get a little wacky. i actually take notice of the older man when i glance over and see his incredibly bright orange pants. not hunting pants, just bright orange. since i have my own pair of bright orange pants that i love, i didn't fault him for it, just made the observation. so then a couple of minutes later, he says "so what do you think of that book?" i respond by saying the author poses really interesting theories and ideas and blah blah. well, this guy counters back with how he's a history teacher and this book really ignores huge things, and how people take the book as the bible when really the fact of the matter is that some people ARE really superior to other people and don't try telling him that you can't domesticate zebras because he's seen it. wow. i try to say that the author isn't necessarily trying to ignore those other factors, but is attempting to explain history from an angle that hasn't been done much before. he continued on with how he had to substitute teach at a school and they made him play some film about how a white woman converted to islam and went to mecca and how great her experience was, but they weren't telling the whole story and as an american he wants the truth. ARE YOU KIDDING? and yes, his wife/partner/mistress was sitting next to him, but by this point he was practically in my lap and things were getting uncomfortable. i managed to escape for a little bit, but then later in the evening, and after some wine, it started up again... this time with him trying to get me to taste his chardonnay, me absolutely refusing and telling him that was gross, and then him leaning in and saying "you're cute." no... i'm not. but, i do know you have lots of ties and you should donate them to me for the ecofest stuff i'm doing. get out of my lap.