A Deal is No Longer a Deal

By now, everyone knows about the lecture that Vice President-elect Pence received during the showing of the red-hot musical Hamilton. And, just in case there are those reading this who do not, here’s what happened.

Tonight, VP-Elect Mike Pence attended #HamiltonBway. After the show, @BrandonVDixon delivered the following statement on behalf of the show. pic.twitter.com/Jsg9Q1pMZs

— Hamilton (@HamiltonMusical) November 19, ne2016

Seems classy until one thinks about the implications inherent in the speech.

“We are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us.” Not exactly polite. But enough people have expounded on that.

Here’s something I’ve been trying to introduce into the conversation and only a few are will to engage or even participate in. Why should anyone put up with being singled out and insulted by a renderer of services for which they paid?

Restated, why should a person who paid for a ticket to a play put up with a lecture pointed toward them? VP-E Pence said that he wasn’t offended and that the lecture—not a conversation, as Hamilton lead actor Brandon Dixon pretended that it was—and that’s classy way to handle such a situation.

(A friend suggested that if Pence wanted to turn the lecture into conversation, that he could have gone back up on the stage and responded to Dixon's statement. I imagined Pence and his Secret Service protection bum rushing the crowd headed in the opposite direction to get back up on the stage. It was disconcerting vision.)

But many seem to the think this tempest is about "free speech" and the redress of grievance. There's one thing which stops that from being true: the fact that Pence and all of the other audience members paid for a service. And that service was not to be lectured to.

This situation is over with. But I'm still disturbed that no one cares that Hamilton violated its contract will its audience.

Every Tuesday and Saturday, I blog at the award-winning DaTechGuyBlog. Latest post: Where the True Line is Drawn

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