The People Who Report More Stress Quotes

“You probably won’t believe me, but this relationship business is easier when you start young. You learn about yourselves and the world as you go along. Your growth is tangled up. Trying to do this now, more than 20 years into adulthood, is near impossible. I don’t have the energy. I don’t want to push people. Being on the same page isn’t enough. It has to be the same paragraph. Or sentence. Make sense?”
― Alejandro Varela, The People Who Report More Stress

“His small talk was always medium sized. Not the burdensome kind that you wanted to avoid or the filler you quickly forget. Artie was, I guess, cool.”
― Alejandro Varela, The People Who Report More Stress

“The entire scene served as a reminder that the city was, at all times, on the verge of implosion. That we build endlessly without much foresight. That New York was bursting at the seams with money, but everything was done on the cheap. That it was the worst and best place to raise children. That the dangling construction worker who bore an uncanny resemblance to my father probably wasn’t part of a union and probably wasn’t from this country and probably had a child who would one day grow up to be middle class and queer and wary of doctors and playgrounds and any place where intentions might be suspect and that, despite his disposable income, he’d never truly enjoy his luxuries because even on planes he’d fear being trapped and he’d also fear the antiterrorism vigilantes that his distress and skin color might inspirit, and that no matter how much the experiences of father and son diverged, they would always be united by their outsider status.”
― Alejandro Varela, The People Who Report More Stress

“Remember, many less thoughtful people have been great parents. Don’t overthink it. You’ll do fine.”
― Alejandro Varela, The People Who Report More Stress

“I guess what I’m saying is that if everyone who made jokes in bad taste, as opposed to those who were fueled by hatred, simply apologized and never made those jokes again, I think it would be okay to move on from the past, as long as the apologies were sincere, well crafted, and accompanied by some sort of restitution, like a retroactive tip jar or a constitutional amendment. Jokes, after all, add up.”
― Alejandro Varela, The People Who Report More Stress

“Rye Manhattan. Straight up, with a twist,” said Charles. “Bourbon preference?”
― Alejandro Varela, The People Who Report More Stress