>>107126381You're right, it's 1000 words out of 4000, I was pretty off about the ratios. Regardless though, it's not an aside, it's the thrust of the conversation, the pivot upon which their discussion happens, the core contention of John's uncertainty. For comparison, the discussion of Roxy's apathy, the actual element the story addressed, was only 270ish words.
And it's so fucking tedious. It doesn't matter what their conclusions are, it has nothing to do with whether or not I agree, it has to do with the clear fucking sincerity put into approaching these issues with the subtlety of a bulldozer, rolling over the reader, and anything else going on in the story, with the flat fucking explanations and assertions more at home on cue cards than lines of dialogue. It's all so fucking clinical and self assured, like ending of a sitcom, with the actors sitting down in front of the camera to "get real for a minute" about whatever bullshit his DUI sentencing requires him to spout. Except there it is, in the middle of the story, just to grind everything to halt and "get real for a minute".
