we're sitting outside on a short stone wall by some stairs down to the practice rooms
across the street from the performing arts center,
(what kind of performing arts?)
which is fenced off by some posts about three feet high with a slack chain between them,
(when is this taking place?)
barely a fence really,
(why didn't they build a real fence?)
its purpose must be to prevent undergraduates from riding their bikes
off of the sidewalk and onto the grass
(why undergraduates in particular?)
(so is this a place where grass grows naturally?)
it's a beautiful Spring day almost Summer
(so is this before global warming?)
I don't think Bill Clinton is even president yet
(president of what?)
our friend is eating ice cream from a large paper cup
(isn't that wasteful?)
he's had a job offer, he tells me
(is this a topic you discuss frequently?)
he's a computer engineering student but that's not how I know him
(do you know a lot of computer engineering students?)
I know him because he plays the piano magnificently
(is that really true or do you just not know very many piano players?)
he's a few years older than me
(how many years do you consider “a few”?)
when I was younger I wanted to play like him
(did you have a lot of role models as a kid?)
now I'm twenty, twenty one, something like that
(don't you know how old you are?)
and I want to play like Thelonius Monk
(well is that ever really going to happen though?)
our friend has had a job offer, he tells me,
(didn't you already say that?)
just for the summer, to go to work for a company I will not name,
(are you being deliberately mysterious?)
(do you want us to guess the name of the company?)
it's the recession before the current recession
(how do you count recessions?)
nobody has job offers
(are you including people who got jobs through friends or relatives?)
we all have money problems,
(are you primarily talking about people you know?)
and this job pays well — that dates this story! —
(what do you consider a well-paying job?)
summer jobs paying well!
(are you saying that's no longer possible?)

a career building opportunity of the sort you shouldn't pass up when you're in college,
(is this really your opinion?)
(or are you quoting conventional wisdom?)
and my friend seems troubled.
(why does he seem troubled?)
why does he seem troubled?
(do you mind me asking?)
well
([pause] do you need time to think about it?)
he seems troubled because,
(is this difficult for you to remember?)
he says, in the world of engineering,
(as opposed to what other world?)
this is a wonderful job offer,
(do you think that's true?)
and I wouldn't be working on military stuff myself,
(is “military” the key word?)
this is him talking,
(but it's your memory, right?)
(do you think he might tell this story differently?)
I wouldn't be working on military stuff myself
(does his voice change at all when he says this?)
I'd be debugging software
(how can he be so confident?)
but this company has huge military contracts,
(is this common knowledge?)
they're a huge company,
(do you want us to guess the name of the company?)
all their work has military applications
(are we supposed to know what that means?)
I'd be there for two months
(is that a long time or a short time?)
I wouldn't be working on military stuff myself
(do you think he's protesting too much?)
I just don't know if I want to work for this company
(is this the crux of the problem?)
it's only for the summer
(is that so bad?)
it's an important opportunity
(why would he pass that up?)
also there's the money
(money's important, right?)

I should probably go
(didn't you say none of your friends have jobs?)
(do you think that says something about you?)
and I'm wondering,
([beat] wondering what?)
do college students even have conversations like this any more?
(well have you tried asking them?)
I mean, turning down a job because you don't agree with the employer's morals
(is that what's actually happening though?)
that just seems like privilege now
(oh boy)
(are we really going to go here?)
like everything that doesn't suck seems like privilege now
(should people be shamed for their privilege?)
(can you phrase that in a less loaded way?)
like a lot of things that do suck seem like privilege now
(how can it be privilege if no-one wants it?)
(should we be having this conversation, given our own demographics?)
(well who would benefit from us not having it?)
(is there some way to open this up to a wider variety of people?)

we're sitting outside on a short stone wall by some stairs down to the practice rooms
across the street from the performing arts center, fenced off by some posts about three
feet high with a slack chain between them, barely a fence really
(is this the same story or has it changed?)
it's a beautiful Spring day almost summer
(do stories have cyclical rhythms, like seasons?)
(is that a cynical or a hopeful metaphor?)
I should go, says my friend. I should do it. It's not such a compromise, it's only two months.
(but it's not just two months is it?)
(how does time change functions in this story?)
And I say You know what? Don't go. Stay here.
(are those the exact words you used?)
And he says thank you! I've been trying to find someone to tell me that! Everyone
else has told me I should go!
(how did you feel when he said that?)
And he doesn't go.

It's a beautiful summer.
I'm twenty, twenty one, something like that.
(what does the author's use of the present tense indicate?)
we eat a lot of ice cream from large paper cups
(does anyone else feel like the paper cups are important or is it just me?)
and we ask the question:
Why was I the only one who said don't go?
He had other friends.
(how does the word friend change functions in this story?)
Why was I the only one who said don't go?

Fast forward one quarter century, I wonder what has become of this friend
I google him
(does anyone still know what that means)
turns out he's been programming for Linux
(does anyone still know what that means)
and he plays keyboards in a band led by a successful songwriter