Last Thing Wins

I’m drowning in information streams that’ll slowly drive me insane. What’s for lunch tomorrow? Did they find that missing girl? How’s Susi doing in Canada? When does the new season of Grey’s Anatomy air? If I actually tracked each thread with any real diligence, my head would explode or I’d spend the entire day just cataloging which priorities shifted where. Anyone willing to verify the credibility of all this has basically made a hobby into a career.

So I’m grateful when someone tells me, with some air of exclusivity, that tomorrow it’s tortellini. That the girl was just at a friend’s house, he heard. That Susi’s already moved back with her mom in Castrop-Rauxel. That the new season doesn’t air until late autumn anyway. Since every new piece of information feels like an update—the latest version of some ongoing story—I just believe it all. Time’s too short for anything else. I’m normally hard to convince about most things, but it’s still easier than calling someone at university or getting Susi on the phone to verify these half-truths myself. It’ll probably be fine anyway.