- Black asks White what's driven him to suicide, and White says he doesn't think anything's wrong with him, per say; he's just different. In fact, he's been in group therapy with other suicidal people and never felt any kinship with them.
- Black asks if he feels any kinship with other professors, but White says he loathes them and they loathe him back. Go team. Black implies that White might dislike them because he dislikes himself, a subtle message White picks up on.
- White also says he tried medication for suicidal depression and it didn't do anything for him.
- Black continues trying to see if they can think of any "constituents"—a.k.a. possible friends or fellow travelers—White might have. But White denies being a member of any group.
- Black imagines how the train or subway platform might be a normal place for most commuters, but for one (suicidal) person it can be the edge of the universe.
- They talk about how White rides the subway every day and what he thinks of the other travelers around him.
- White says he doesn't think about them or speak with them. But Black convinces him to admit that he does curse them under his breath, since he doesn't like what they're doing or they're in his way or whatever—maybe around five times a day.
- Black figures out that this would add up to around two thousand times a year, which over twenty years of commuting, would add up to forty thousand curses on the heads of strangers.
- Black thinks this probably has something to do with the shape White's in. White denies this assessment, though: He just doesn't like people, but he wouldn't hurt anybody else, even though he would hurt himself. Black, however, is somewhat skeptical.