My friend Greg Perkins and I were trying to come up with a snappy reply to rude comments like:

“Oh, you like Ayn Rand? Yeah, I read her in college but then I grew out of it.”

“Oh, you like Ayn Rand? You’ll grow up out of that sooner or later.” (I’m a bit too old to hear that one anymore!)

Although the first does imply that agreement with Ayn Rand is immature, it’s not nearly as condescending and offensive as the second. So in that case, I’d likely press the person as to why they abandoned it, as that’s of interest to me.

As for the second, I’d be inclined to walk away from the person. Or just stare at him in amazement for a few seconds until he squirms in his seat. Or tell him that that’s surely what all those grown-up Nazi’s told their children who weren’t so enthused about exterminating the Jews. (Ouch!)

I’m looking for replies with that Miss Manners kind of flair: polite on the surface, yet devastatingly nasty underneath.

In the comments, feel free to post other absurd comments that people make about your Objectivist views (e.g. “Deep down, you know that you’re rebelling against God”) and possible replies.