I'm driving to a party - something like a noder meet - which is several hours away. I have a passenger. I don't know who she is. I've never met her before. She is about 19 and blonde, with an unattractively puffy face. Apparently she also has a checkered mental health history. I vaguely recall her parents told me this when I went to pick her up. Super.

My passenger keeps reaching over and trying to take the wheel, nearly killing us both, of course, several times on the long drive. When I get to the party, everyone pities me my nasty ordeal and regards my young passenger with suspicion and disdain.

I wake at 4 a.m., fully an hour before my alarm goes off on weekday mornings, and can't get back to sleep.