“This Doesn’t Count” Loophole: We tell ourselves that for some reason, this circumstance doesn’t “count.” I lived in a group house after college, and my housemate’s boyfriend one day said to me, in a patronizing tone, “Boy, I wish I had as much free time as you do, to read for pleasure.” He practically lived with us, so I saw how he spent his time, and I answered, “But you have lots of free time, you watch a ton of sports on television.” He said, “Oh, that doesn’t count.” But everything counts.
