Go to What I SHOULD Have Said... main page
Here is one story retold,
albeit with a pithier ending:
From lelex:
Racist? Of course...
What happened: One night at a club, I accidentally bumped in an foreigner guy at the bar. I apologize to him, but somehow this was not enough... He turned to me and asked with an unnerved voice: "Do you have a problem? Do you have a problem with foreigners? Are you racist?"
What I said: Again, I'm sorry.
What I SHOULD have said: Of course I'm racist! (Which I'm not)
L'esprit d'escalier
The French call it l'esprit d'escalier, "the wit of the staircase," those biting ripostes that are thought of just seconds too late, on the way out of the room-or even, to tell the truth, days later. It's happened to you: you've suddenly thought of just what would put your foe in his or her place, but past the time when the arrow could sting its victim. You've stewed in your own juice ever since, and the chance for singeing repartee is gone forever.
Or is it?
Dorothy Parker or Oscar Wilde may have had the rapier wit to tweak their tormentors on the spot, but for the rest of us, we offer the Internet's only L'esprit d'escalier web site!
