Zipster, I'd say for $20 your friend got a great life lesson and a story he can tell for the rest of his life and grin about, so that's a pretty good bargain!

To me, pool hustling has the same amount of respect I give to a good poker player, who depends on skill and the ability to leverage sheer luck (the turn of cards or where the break sends balls on the table), and reading the opponent.

I happened to be reading last night about the justly famous Milgrom experiment, which was halted early because some of the experimentees were in real danger. It strikes me that what we're seeing is the Milgrom and Stanford experiments writ large on our society, and it's becoming frightfully easy to see who would happily leap into the role of a guard without the least qualm.

@33 -- The things you learn online! I didn't realize there was a minimum number of offenses that "add up" to atrocity.

I thought it was like "a little bit pregnant." Only with more screaming, and more dishonor to the nation.