I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom

by Jason Pargin

“Never challenge a man in a Buick. He’s got nothin’ to lose.”

He felt a weight roll off him, the exquisite relief of canceled plans that extroverts will never know.

“So what do we do?” “It’s the same answer for this or life in general: Watch and learn and hope an opportunity presents itself. And pray that this goddamned thing doesn’t go boom in the meantime.”

And then … I want to try to change the trajectory of the world.” “Oh, is that all?”