15 Now-You-Know Facts That Are Perfect Ice Breakers

"The world's gone wrong," a young woman told me. We were sitting on an old bench at the side of a road, watching cars go by in both directions, when she said that. The sun was setting behind the hills, and the shadows had lengthened, darkening the asphalt and making our surroundings look like a movie set.

A couple of years before this, the world had gone right again; it had been a good time. But the world is not always right and sometimes it goes wrong. It has been going wrong now for about twenty years.

I'm not sure why. I don't think anyone knows. There may have been some kind of accident or something. Maybe it's all just part of the plan.

I sighed deeply, and began contemplating the scene around me. Suddenly, on the edge of these lengthening shadows, I saw a newspaper – it was crumpled up, but still legible. There was an article listing fifteen fun facts, starting with ...