‘We’re full of joy’, W. says, ‘that’s what saves us.’ But still, we’re realistic. We compare ourselves to our friend R. who’s clearly better than us. ‘He gives, we take.’ – ‘He has ideas, we don’t.’ W. is warming up to the game, ‘he engages with the world, whereas our engagement is mediated by books we half understand.’ – ‘He tries to change the world, whereas we’re parasitical on people who try and change things.’ – ‘He makes people feel witty and intelligent; we make them feel depressed and demotivated.’
We’re both laughing. ‘Every day, for R. something new might occur. But for us, every day confirms that nothing new, for us will ever have happened.’ Laughter: why do find our failings so amusing? But it does save us, we agree on that, as we walk back from the supermarket. We are content with very little: look at us, with a frozen chicken in a bag, and some herbs and spices, and walking back home in the sun. ‘The gift of laughter,’ I say. ‘The gift of idiocy’, says W.
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