Beam Me Up Scottie, This Elevator is Going to Hell

A funny thing happened to me once when I was in New Orleans. Keep in mind, this was in New Orleans, which is a city known for its tolerance of various unique kinds of behavior.

I was in a hotel near the French Quarter when I entered an elevator near a top floor with an elderly couple. I was in town attending meetings of the National Conference of State Legislatures. In the hotel was a Star Trek convention, and apparently we were riding the elevator during room hoping hours. As we rode down to the lobby, the elevators stopped at numerous floors where people dressed in Star Trek costumes entered and exited. The elderly couple seemed quite surprised to see all these people in their unique forms of dress.

Eventually, the Trekkies cleared out and the elevator was left with only the elderly couple and me left. The elderly man turned to me and asked "Are you with all those weird people we just saw?"

I reassured him I was not. "I am here for the National Conference of State Legislatures."

Upon hearing this, the old man turned to his wife and proclaimed "this whole town is going to hell."