The worst punishment there is for wanting the wrong thing is getting it

The worst punishment there is for wanting the wrong thing is getting it is a maxim Paul formulates when a long-held wish comes true in a disappointing form. It captures the gap between the scene he once wanted—a job and time alone with a woman—and the awkward, unhappy reality in which he finds himself.

Context and Meaning

Paul recalls that, only a fortnight earlier, he would have welcomed the prospect of sitting in an office with a woman he would work beside for the foreseeable future. He had imagined an agreeable, attractive but unattached companion, and had wished simply for five minutes alone with a woman so he could make his best effort to impress her. The maxim names the reversal: obtaining the circumstances he desired does not make them satisfying when the actual job is dreadful and the encounter falls short of his imagined ideal.

The Wish Fulfilled

The reflection comes as Paul sits with a female colleague who has apologized and said she is not a very nice person. He does not answer her; instead, he resolves to remain silent, privately treating the paid time as a small improvement over earlier awkward silences with women. His self-consolation cannot conceal the mismatch between fantasy and fact. He has the job and the private conversation he once wanted, but neither arrives in the form he hoped for.

Narrative Function

The expression turns Paul's romantic frustration into a compact piece of irony: desire has been granted almost exactly enough to expose how poorly he understood what he was wishing for. Its force lies in the contrast between his former plea for an opportunity and his present reluctance to speak. Rather than presenting fulfillment as a reward, the scene makes it another source of discomfort, while showing Paul's humor as a way of enduring an awkward situation.