what would David have given to be caught in…
Page 68 what would David have given to be caught in this traffic jam? It was the same for cues in the supermarket and customer service line that keep him on hold for too long.
— from The Landing (Death) · Four Thousand Weeks-Time Management for Mortals, written by Oliver Burkeman
In the book
They hold the people they love and try to heal their pain; they understand that one must be strong in the face of death precisely because death is woven into the fabric of life. A man named David, I am told, would have given anything near the end to be stuck in one more ordinary traffic jam, one more slow line at the supermarket, one more maddening minute on hold — the very things the rest of us curse. Now the rough air — the mistakes, including the ones I made myself, because my scars are the only credentials I really have here. — The Landing (Death)