June• 2019 | 33I
was flying on an aeroplane the
other day when my new pen
splattered black ink all over
the front of my new dress. The
pen was my favourite kind of
pen – or was, until then – a
Bic Z 4 Roller. The real ink was
what had made me love Z4 Rollers. It
is thinner than the ink that comes out
of a regular Bic pen, which means you
barely have to touch the paper to get
the pen to move across it. Z4s are like
fountain pens, only without the messy
qualities of a fountain pen. I loved
them deeply.
I loved my new dress even more,
though. It was from Banana Republic,
and I had paid full price for it, which
I never do. But the dress was worth
it. I t was casual and a little dressy
at the same time: sleeveless, with a
scoop neckline, a tailored waist, and
a slightly puffy skirt. It had flattering,
thin, vertical blue and white stripes,
and the fabric was a blend of cotton
and something human-made that
nevertheless felt soft and not fake and
yet r equired no maintenance – no dry
cleaning, no ironing. The dress practi-
cally sprang itself out of the dryer and
stood up on its own, wrinkle-free and
ready to go. Also, it had my favourite
feature in a dress, which is side pock-
ets. They were hidden pockets, sewnART OF LIVINGinto the seam, which I like even more.
After the explosion on the plane, I
attacked the big wet splotches of ink
with water and a napkin; if anything,
this seemed to set the stains. As soon
as we landed, I ran to an airport store
and bought one of those little travel
packets of disposable cloths soaked in
stain r emover and tried scrubbing the
splotches again. I knew this would be
futile, and it was. I went to my ho-
tel, changed my clothes, and put
the ruined dr ess into my suitcase. I
couldn’t b ear to throw it away; maybe
someone would invent a magical ink-
stain remover in the next week and I’d
have thrown out the dress for nothing.
Sometimes, when something bad
happens to me, I play a little game.
The object is to ask yourself whether
the bad thing that just happened has
any silver lining whatsoever. It’s corny
but comforting; if you try it, you’ll be
surprised. There’s some good thing,
even if it’s tiny, even if you have to
strain for it, in almost every mis-
fortune. I never thought I’d say it,
but I can even see the upside of my
having had cancer. It took me a long
time to feel that way, and I won’t get
into it here, but if you don’t die – a big
caveat, I know – there is one, I s wear.
But I h ave thought and thought about
PHOTO: THE VOORHES FOR READER’S DIGEST my ruined dress and what the upside