Curiosity’s punishment

Sometimes I wish the Internet wasn’t quite so comprehensive. Even the most private people often wind up baring their souls in its electronic pages. Of course it helps not to be too curious, though that is sometimes hard to do. As we grow old, they say, the present recedes while the past marches forward. Thus a little curiosity, abetted by a search engine exploration on the name of an old girlfriend who ditched me for another guy many years ago, turned up the good news that they were still married, but the sad news that they had lost their only child. Clearly, curiosity punishes as well as rewards. I’m now haunted by their tragedy, knowing more than I really wanted to.