The phone rings. It is Jim Jarmusch, and he asks if I want to come over to his place. For one thing, he is baking something scrumptious. For another, he proposes that the two of us quit smoking today. One last cigarette with Jim Jarmusch. I don’t know how often he has already called me for that reason. By now, he is getting on my nerves.
« Jim, » I say, « you know very well that I quit a long time ago. »
« You what? », he says. « Damn it, Paul. When did that happen? »
Sometimes I don’t know what to make of him. His memory is getting worse by the day.
« Two years ago, Jim. In October it’ll be three. »
« And you don’t tell me? »
« I keep telling you. »
« How did you manage it? »
As often as I have told him that I quit, I have told him how I did it. This time, all I say is: « If one wants to quit smoking, one first needs to find one’s own personal approach. »
I hear Jim Jarmusch light a cigarette. He takes a puff, exhales, asks: « And what was your personal approach? »
« What use would it be if I told you? »
« Maybe it would give me courage? Spur me on? It wouldn’t hurt you to help out a friend, would it? »
The decline of his memory comes hand in hand with an increase in irritability. I have been observing this for a while now, but how exactly the two are connected is still not quite clear to me.
The phone rings. It is Jim Jarmusch, and he asks if I want to come over to his place. For one thing, he is baking something scrumptious. For another, he proposes that the two of us quit smoking today. One last cigarette with Jim Jarmusch. I don’t know how often he has already called me for that reason. By now, he is getting on my nerves.
« Jim, » I say, « you know very well that I quit a long time ago. »
« You what? », he says. « Damn it, Paul. When did that happen? »
Sometimes I don’t know what to make of him. His memory is getting worse by the day.
« Two years ago, Jim. In October it’ll be three. »
« And you don’t tell me? »
« I keep telling you. »
« How did you manage it? »
As often as I have told him that I quit, I have told him how I did it. This time, all I say is: « If one wants to quit smoking, one first needs to find one’s own personal approach. »
I hear Jim Jarmusch light a cigarette. He takes a puff, exhales, asks: « And what was your personal approach? »