From time to time I get overinvested in a conversation, and I start spinning out opinions. One after another, spitting out of my mouth like semiautomatic gunfire, each new shot more emphatic and provocative than the last. Now I’m self-aware enough, this deep into life, to know when I’m getting wound up, and I have these ready-made tricks and gadgets I can feed into a conversation to keep from getting slapped. Caveats, qualifications, acknowledgments, pretenses to self-reflection: in another life, I might have made a good lawyer.
How wonderful this piece is!