Mortality

The doctor looks at him with a familiarity built on seeing the father and godfather die, checking his blood pressure and listening to his heart with the seriousness of someone who has seen hearts stop.

"You need to quit smoking."
"Yes. What's the best way to quit?"
"Stop buying them. Cold turkey. Are you married yet?"
"No."
"You better get married before women don't want you."
"Apparently they don't want me now!", is the immediate rebuttal. Swift. Witty.

Laughter echoes in the office.

We're all sent here COD, and we're all stamped Return To Sender. The main dispute people seem to have is where the Sender lives, what the Sender looks like and whether the Sender's mother was a virgin or not or whether the Sender had a mother at all. Kind of rude to discuss someone's mother's sexual activities, isn't it? No wonder people fight.