Hapticity

Over dinner last night my friends and I got into a heated discussion about how to respond when someone asks a question that entails a rhetorical agenda. When a person on the street says, “Do you have any change?”, it poses a problem because you don’t want to lie as a matter of principle (because you have some) and you don’t want to tell the truth out of consideration for politeness and personal safety (because you have no intention of handing it over). Needless to say, we didn’t figure anything out.

The conversation reminded me of this scene from one of my favorite movies, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead.