By Ken Shelton

“Don’t sleep well,” I said to my date.

“You need to quit drinking coffee,” she said

“‘Need’ implies necessity,” I replied. “And quitting coffee is sufficient for a good night’s sleep, but it is not necessary. It’s a common confusion. You see, in propositional logic, If P, then Q. Q. Therefore, P.”

She had the glazed-over look of a deer caught in the headlights.

I went on. “If Q is the result, a good night’s sleep, and P equals quitting coffee, then quitting coffee is sufficient for a good night’s sleep but not a necessity because P does not actually equal Q in a necessary sense. If you diagram the necessity and sufficiency of quitting coffee and a good night’s sleep in a Venn diagram, you will find that Quitting coffee is not necessary, but it is sufficient, for a good night’s sleep.” I tossed in enough jargon to impress her with my knowledge of propositional logic. I took a sip of coffee and watched her over the rim of the cup. She was speechless with wonder and awe.

I called for another date. This time to go see a Billie Eilish live concert. I am something of a walking encyclopedia of rock music lore. I’m sure she would like to know of some of that history and culture.

“Sorry,” she said. She had reunited with her former boyfriend.

*   *   *

Ken Shelton is a writer of short fiction and min essays. He lives in Dallas, Texas with his cat Talon.