“In the first century CE, Roman authorities punished St. Apollonia by crushing her teeth one by one with pliers. Colin often thought about this in relationship to the monotony of dumping: we have thirty-two teeth. After a while, having each tooth individually destroyed probably gets repetitive, even dull. But it never stops hurting.”

“But monotony doesn't make for painlessness. In the first century CE, Roman authorities punished St. Appollonia by crushing her teeth one by one with pliers. Colin often thought about this in relationship to the monotony of dumping: we have thirty two teeth. After a while, having each tooth individually destroyed probably gets repetitive, even dull. But it never stops hurting.”

“After a while, having each tooth individually destroyed probably gets repetitive, even dull. But it never stops hurting.”

“Colin thought about the dork mantra: sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. What a dirty lie.”

“People thought he was a glutton for punishment, that he liked getting dumped. But it wasn't like that. He could just never see anything coming, and as he lay on the solid, uneven ground with Hassan pressing too hard on his forehead, Colin Singleton's distance from his glasses made him realize the problem: myopia. He was nearsighted. The future lay before him, inevitable but invisible.”

“Either way,though, we must remember that this is a dangerous sport."Right, Colin thought. We have guns and the pigs have snouts. Dangerous, indeed.”

“That's why people grow weary of listening to Dumpees obsess over their troubles: getting dumped is predictable, repetitive, and boring.”