Dept. of Speculation

by Jenny Offill

Also she signed away the right to self-destruct years ago. The fine print on the birth certificate, her friend calls it.

But now it seems possible that the truth about getting older is that there are fewer and fewer things to make fun of until finally there is nothing you are sure you will never be.

She thinks before she acts. Or more properly, she thinks instead of acts. A character flaw, not a virtue.