Racial polarization has, alas, been around a while. I had a joke in the 1984 election. Q: What do Walter Mondale and I have in common? A: We're the only white males who support his candidacy. (I know this wasn't literally true, but there were times it felt like it.)
Your anecdote interests me, because the only time I've ever been on the upper deck of a tourist boat on the Rhine, or indeed anywhere near the Rhine at all, was also in 1992. I did not, however, smoke; had I done so, it would have been the only time I did that on the upper deck of a tourist boat on the Rhine, or anywhere near the Rhine, or indeed anywhere at all.
no subject
Your anecdote interests me, because the only time I've ever been on the upper deck of a tourist boat on the Rhine, or indeed anywhere near the Rhine at all, was also in 1992. I did not, however, smoke; had I done so, it would have been the only time I did that on the upper deck of a tourist boat on the Rhine, or anywhere near the Rhine, or indeed anywhere at all.