Slightly Damaged

At dance class the other night, the conversation turns to food, as it often does. We'd rather swap recipes than analyze why we can't manage a simple turn without the room spinning on its own axis long after we've stopped moving. Doug Rivera, the kindest dance teacher on the planet, is about to take us through a sassy, shake it, don't break it, routine, when he pauses to share something important. "I bought avocados today." We snap to attention. Avocados? Keep talking. "They were slightly damaged. Like me." The man's had both hips replaced. He's an expert on damage control. We do five minutes on how we're all slightly damaged, and if you just cut away the brown spots, guacamole tastes delicious anyway.