For Martin did not see why a man should not talk shop.
"It's absurd and unfair," he had told Ruth weeks before, "this objection to talking shop.

For what reason under the sun do men and women come together if not for the exchange of the best that is in them?
And the best that is in them is what they are interested in, the thing by which they make their living, the thing they've specialized on and sat up days and nights over, and even dreamed about.

Imagine Mr.Butler living up to social etiquette and enunciating his views on Paul Verlaine or the German drama or the novels of D'Annunzio.

We'd be bored to death.

I, for one, if I must listen to Mr.Butler, prefer to hear him talk about his law.
It's the best that is in him, and life is so short that I want the best of every man and woman I meet." "But," Ruth had objected, "there are the topics of general interest to all." "There, you mistake," he had rushed on.