No. 8: “Odd Man Out”
No. 8: "Odd Man Out"
By Randy Cohen
Who does not belong: Leonardo DiCaprio, Zack Hanson, Billy Graham, Rupert Murdoch?
by noon ET on Thursday to e-mail your answer (NewsQuiz@slate.com).
Responses to Tuesday's Question (No. 7)--"Scouting Around":
According to a New Jersey appellate court, Boy Scouts of America is very like a hotel or restaurant. How so?
"Actually, the appellate court was more specific in that it said that Boy Scouts of America was becoming very like a hotel or restaurant owned by Ian Schrager, which, while de jure open to the public, was perhaps a bit 'aesthetic' for today's youth, while the Boy Scouts of America has heretofore always taken pains to endorse a decent kind of foursquare, paunchy, Day's Inn/Sizzler lifestyle."--David Rakoff
"They are regularly washed and scrubbed by Mexicans. (I assume the correct answer is that BSA is like a restaurant or hotel in that if it is open to the public, it must be open to ALL the public, and cannot discriminate against any particular group. FYI: In the 1950s, African-Americans were forced to drink from special Boy Scouts.)"--Larry Amaros
"They all feature homosexuals in freshly pressed uniforms? (Which could also describe, for that matter, the chorus of South Pacific ... but can those chorus boys tie knots or make a perfect campfire? I think not.)"--Meg Wolitzer
"They must welcome and service all who enter. Coincidentally, this is also addressed in the White House intern-orientation packet."--Beth Sherman
"For one thing, at either a Boy Scout jamboree or a restaurant, you could have heard Leonard Bernstein say, 'I'd like a little something sweet, to go.' "--Jon Hotchkiss
Randy Cohen used to write Slate's "News Quiz." His most recent book—oh, like you don't know.


