I imagine this sign is on a college campus somewhere, designed to spur uncertain students to consider their life options. Let’s see, the business school is over there; I could major in marketing. But gee, the Science Department has such a great climatology program; I could get a job in Greenland watching the glacier melt.
Then there’s always the problem of not being able to decide, so you do what I did: get a degree in English with a minor in philosophy. Then you could take a whole series of low grade jobs as I did: houseparent for retarded children, taxicab driver (night shift in Miami), pizza cook, guinea pig for heat/cold experiment, office clerk (the best one, since I met my future wife there). Finally, I was working as the night manager of the campus store at F.S.U. when I got friendly with a guy to whom I’d sold a pen. We would have coffee together on occasion and he’d keep telling me I was wasting my life. Why don’t you do this? Why don’t you do that? Then, eventually, why don’t you go to law school? This last idea stuck in my craw. So he hit me with his final argument: “I’ll tell you what. I’ve told you that I want to go to med school but, truth be told, I just want to be a professional. We’ve gotten to be friends so I’ll make you a deal. If you go to law school, I’ll go to law school, and then we can open up a practice together.”
So I took the LSAT and got into law school. Last time I saw my friend, he was heading to Guadalajara, Mexico for med school. I haven’t seen him since. That was 1969. He’s probably a rich plastic surgeon in LaLa Land now.
Meeting him was just an accident of fate. He just happened to come in when I was there, I just happened to be standing behind the pen counter, etc. 1969 was a helluva year in many ways, but that’s a whole other post.