I thought I was well-balanced and then I agreed with DFW so I no longer think I am well-balanced. But I now shop exclusively at the greatest place on earth -- problem solved. In all seriousness I thought the writer was being totally ridiculous in that paragraph and I still side with Wallace, especially in the way he used the example to tell a morality tale about self-absorption. We'll just have to get some of them in print first.I thought it was interesting to hear a well-balanced person's take on the grocery store part of the commencement speech. I heard it and I was like, "Yeah! I hate the supermarket. Fuck those people, buying food to eat with their happy families. Pfft. I'm gonna go home and drink mouthwash." Now I realize it's another thing to talk about when I get to therapy.
a lot of his complexities are set to be lost as he becomes a combination of his work and a mythical figure.