“My song is about addiction,” said the tall guy who usually enters the class late, if he shows up at all.

“In what way?” I asked.

“I vape and I can’t stop. I try to quit every day but at a certain point I hit it and just can’t take it any more, and all my willpower goes out the window. The song is actually called out the window.”

“Did it do anything for your problem?”

“It was easy to do, I knew what the lyrics would be before I started, because I live it. Best part is the bridge because you’re suppose to say something else in the bridge.”

“What’s your bridge about?”

“That everyone is in the same boat, not just me. Nobody can change themselves but everybody’s trying, everybody’s a hamster on a treadmill.”

“I like it. You didn’t answer my question earlier, did writing it do anything for your situation?”

“It made me feel like I was someone else looking down at myself. That was sort of useful.”

“I bet you could write yourself out of it.”

“What?”

“There’s a filmmaker named Guy Maddin who made a film about Winnipeg and sort of feeling stuck there, so he filmed his way out.”

“I like that but it sounds crazy.”

“Better than a treadmill.”

“Exactly.”