Through this example Vonnegut seems to be telling us that we don't need to put up with today's absurdities. We can live in the past (or future) like Billy. A lot of people do this. They either dwell in the past and aren't able to get over things that happened a long time ago, or they have such a hard time dealing with the present that they choose to live in denial and think everything is just how it has always been. This is a very immature solution to handling the world's absurdities. We don't have the choice to "flip the channels" in our lives like Billy does; however we often flip the channel when the news comes on. But we can't just ignore our problems and expect them to go away. That never works for anybody. Nor does denial, which living in the past is, plain and simple. We have to deal with things in a more mature way. As Vonnegut subtly points out, we have to help the things we can and understand the things we can't, and hopefully we will never lose sight of the difference.

Vonnegut's main character, Billy Pilgrim, has learned how to glaze over bad times like this. He has become, as he says, "unstuck in time," meaning his life is no longer in chronological order. It has become, to him, a series of moments. As he learned from the Tralfamadorians, he is able to time travel to any given moment in his life whenever he wants. Billy hasn't yet learned how to choose what moment he travels to, but he seems to be able to choose when he goes. He hops a

Some common words found in the essay are:
Billy Pilgrim, , Five Vonnegut's, Kurt Vonnegut, past future, sit watch,
Approximate Word count = 1003
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)