I am watching Buffy. It's the big, climatic, moment of the second season's finale, Becoming II. Buffy has just killed Angel, the love of her life, thrusting a sword into his heart after lovingly telling him how much she loves him. As Angel disappears into another dimension, Buffy backs up and the tears come, rolling down her face. Nobody cries like Sarah Michelle Gellar. Nobody. As Sarah MacLachlan's "State of Grace" fills the background, we get a slow montage as Buffy watches her friends from a distance, quietly saying goodbye to them before she hops on a bus to skip town. The entire sequence is so powerful, so gut-wrenching, it would make Saddam Hussien break down and bawl like a baby.

In the middle of the whole sequence, the phone rings. Despite my usual rule about not answering the phone during "Buffy," I answer it. It's MCI asking me about my long distance service.

I hang up on them.

Damn them, damn them all to hell.