What NPR radio, Barack Obama, Colon Powell, MLK and picking up chicks in a bar have in common

I listen to National Public Radio every morning just like all of you. So I am sure you all heard the story about the study pertaining to people's perception of African Americans on Martin Luther King Jr. Day vs. other days of the year.

SHANKAR VEDANTAM, NPR radio correspondent interviewed Sara Konrath of Indiana University. "Well, you know, like most people, David, I'd intuitively assumed that on MLK Day, most people would have an elevated view, not just of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., but of African-Americans in general and prominent Americans in our midst, people like President Obama or former Secretary of State Colin Powell. I recently spoke with Sara Konrath at Indiana University. And she told me that she and her colleagues William Chopik, Ed O'Brien and Norbert Schwarz - they decided to test this intuitive belief that I thought many of us share. They had volunteers describe their feelings about African-Americans in general and a prominent African-American like Colin Powell. She told me that she was surprised by what she found."

According to Konrath, " People see Powell in a negative light on MLK Day compared to how they see him on days that are before or after. But on MLK Day, people actually see African-Americans, as a group, more positively." NPR website

The story goes on to say that African American women like Oprah are safe on MLK day. It's just black guys. She describes the phenom as a comparison. If someone in her department won the Nobel prize and they had the same qualifications as she did then people would say, Hey how come SHE didn't win the nobel prize too.

So, people of all races on MLK day think of Martin Luther King Jr., a black male who was in politics and educated, and think of all the other black males in politics who are educated as slackers in comparison to Martin Luther King Jr. on that day because he is being honored on that day.

Ok, THAT makes alot of sense to me and if you don't understand the MLK comparison maybe this will help...picking up chicks in bars.

Everyone knows that when women and men are in a group out at a bar there is a pecking order. A woman may say, "Hey that guy over there is HOT!"

If she has good girl friends, they will say to her, "Is he REALLY hot or is he just the hottest guy in the group?" She looks closer, talks to him longer before making her decision and may even look at the others to determine who is the best guy. She is holding all other men in that group to the standards of the small group. And one guy seems great. Until her friends question it...then she opens the group up to other men in the bar, comparing "hot guy" to other men in the larger group in the bar...

Now is he REALLY hot in the bigger group? He may be MLK or he may just be Barack Obama or Colin Powell when compared to MLK.

If he is MLK she will choose him, get married, have a bunch of kids and live happily ever after. If he is only Obama or Powell...not so much.

Same goes for men choosing women. Children deciding who to play with on the playground.  Every relationship in life falls into the... Is this person MLK? rule!

So, next time you go to a bar to meet people you can tell your friends to remind you to decide if he or she is REALLY as good as Martin Luther King. No one will know what you're talking about but you and you will avoid going home with some dog face, good for nothin', drunkard derelict.

And you can thank those professors who got the big million dollar grant to study why people like Martin Luther King on his day more than the day before or the day after.... yea they could've just gone to a bar for free to find it all out but what fun is that?