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In a door-handle recess are several chewed up wads of gum and a partially devoured lollipop. It has been my experience that once gum is stuck on the interior of a car, it is there forever. The very idea leads one to contemplate eternity and permanence. This gum pile will be there long after you and I are gone.

I posed the following to Dave.

Eric: "Dave, Do you feel bad about the gum wads stuck in your door-handle? Do you know it will be hard to remove?"

Dave: "Only two offenses truly antagonize me toward my daughters: (1) Any, even subtle, derogation of my physical appearance and (2) Unnecessarily 'keeping me awake' when I am sleepy. 'Mess-making' by the girls, in the traditional or the non-traditional sense, even when it means extra labor and expense for me, is not a major infraction. I only feel guilty for hurting someone, and I do not feel that my car's disarrayed appearance hurts anyone in any legitimate way."

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