Paragraph(s) of the day from A Different Closet
He turned off Manchester onto Sublette Avenue just as the thump returned to his consciousness. It turned loud enough to squelch thoughts of SAGA and become familiar. Its source began to take root in Keith’s mind and finally sprouted into certainty with the onset of a tug to the right, conveyed through the steering wheel from the passenger-side front tire. Of course. With his sensory data now sufficient, Keith was relieved. Changing tires fit into his mini-manifest of automotive expertise. He was a three-minute walk from home, it was warm out, and time-consuming expensive repairs were not needed, not for this.
“Why don’t you buy a new car?” Karen said.
“What are you talking about? All I had was a flat tire.”
“You need a new car.”
“No I don’t,” Keith said. “This one works fine.”
“It’s going to blow up.”
“Of course. All cars blow up. When they do, you buy a new one.”
“Whatever. What you really need is a dose of common sense.”
Keith responded with his standard rebuttal, that common sense was no more than the sediment of advice handed children for the sake of security, consistency, and safety. He acknowledged its usefulness but argued that underlying truths essential for progress were often buried beneath it, and that someone had to do the digging, even if it incited comments like Karen’s or led to cars blowing up.
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