Vonnegut's elongated shadow cast by the winter sun

Excerpt from Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s introduction to God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian.

"OK, now let's have some fun. Let's talk about sex. Let's talk about women. Freud said he didn't know what women wanted. I know what women want. They want a whole lot of people to talk to. What do they want to talk about? They want to talk about everything.

What do men want? They want a lot of pals, and they wish people wouldn't get so mad at them.

Why are so many people getting divorced today. It's because most of us don't have extended families anymore. It used to be that when a man and a woman got married, the bride got a lot more people to talk to about everything. The groom got a lot more pals to tell dumb jokes to.

A few Americans, but very few, still have extended families. The Navahoes. The Kennedys.

But most of us, if we get married nowadays, are just one more person for the other person. The groom gets one more pal, but it's a woman. The woman gets one more person to talk to about everything, but it's a man.

When a couple has an argument, they may think it's about money or power or sex, or how to raise the kids, or whatever. What they're really saying to each other, though, without realizing it, is this:

'You are not enough people.'"

it occurs to me that there are a lot of not-enough-peoples out there. i read the above lines at a pizza place where i shared a smile with an attractive woman who took her food to go, while i was halfway into eating in. at the same time, a guy from my office was eating alone at the same pizza place, someone i figured to have someone else to eat with. having a book to read, and not having said more than a few words to this coworker, i didn't impose myself upon his dinner. or maybe he was just busy not imposing himself on my alone-time, as if that's something i don't have an abundance of...

...

you know that feeling that what you're writing isn't going to see the light of day because back space is so conveniently located, and publish takes a deliberate act. yeah, it's something like that...

she's out there.