at first I thought you were just using me" she said "I definitely am." I just wasn't sure for what. "Asshole!" she said, and punched me in the side. And she laughed as my kidney began to hemorrhage. That's the beauty of honesty. Everyones so unused to hearing it they just assume you're kidding, and you get to feel very good and forthcoming without suffering any consequences except for traces of blood in your urine for the next day or two.
Paul NeilanIn the long term everyone traffics in foregone conclusions, and in the short term they just get drunk. This is the way it has always been. Some half-assed ambiguity masquerading as mystery is all anybody's really looking for.
Paul NeilanIf Tolstoy were alive today and working at Panopticon Insurance, he'd say that all insurance companies are the same, then throw himself through an eighteenth story window and plunge to his death in a hail of glass and shattered dignity" (70).
Paul NeilanBut really itโs condescending and patronizing not to make fun of someone because theyโre old or stupid or crippled or morbidly obese. Banged up people donโt want your pity. They just want to be treated like everyone else. Mockery, when done without prejudice or discretion, can be a form of respect. Itโs the closest weโll ever come to true equality.
Paul Neilan