Old Joe Grady and Uncle Sam
During the Korean War, Old Joe Grady was a supply clerk at Walter Reed Hospital. They didn't send him to the front because he had a bad tendency to think before he did anything. That's why he ended up in Washington, D. C., instead of on Hamburger Hill or No Name Ridge.
The nice thing about Uncle Sam--wherever he puts you--is you don't have to make decisions about your life. And in his early twenties, what to do with an entire life seemed too much to deal with for Old Joe Grady. But one day the inevitable happened. A major marched up to Old Joe, gave him a snappy salute, and told him to be on his way. He had fulfilled his commitment, the major said. Old Joe Grady walked out of the supply room, down a long hall, and onto the sidewalk. Suddenly it wasn't clear whether he should turn up Alaska Avenue or down 16th Street, look for work back in the Blue Ridge or set sail for Australia. He considered extending his tour of duty, but not for long.
For all it offered, there were drawbacks to military service. For one thing, Old Joe had never really taken to guns, even toy guns. He had noticed whenever anyone picked up a gun, a sinister look would darken his eyes, like burnt cork. It wasn't that Old Joe was a pacifist or vegetarian; he just liked living things better than he did dead things. So when his father took him deer hunting as an adolescent, Old Joe insisted on bringing binoculars instead of his rifle. Then he had stumbled and thrashed through the woods as loudly as possible to scare away the game. Made Will Grady so mad he threw his shotgun into a closet and never went hunting again. But the guns would have their revenge. In boot camp, every time Old Joe was given the inspection arms command, the bolt of his M-1 would snap back and smash his thumb. Whatever trade he might be cut out for, a job requiring the bearing of firearms did not seem to be it.
Returning home to work with his father was an unappealing alternative.
The store was as much an extension of Will Grady's personality as it was a business enterprise. Joe knew that they would end up resenting each other if he tried to begin a career there. Besides, one of the things Joe disliked the most was going back to something he had already done and left. Old Joe realized that he could begin college, but that didn't seem right either. Not that he wasn't eager to learn. It was just that he had trouble sitting still long enough to listen to a lecture, mainly because his mind never seemed headed in the same direction as the lecturer's. If he could have followed his professor around and watched what he was doing and asked him questions, Old Joe probably would have gone to college. But the idea of occupying a hard desk for four years waiting for his mind to expand didn't have much appeal.
So that eliminated all the easy options for Old Joe Grady, as he sat on a curb in the nation's capital and threw pebbles into the street. After a while, a bum edged up to him for a handout. Still later, a man inquired as to whether he had found Jesus. Nobody else apparently noticed he was there, though lots of people passed him by. Towards dark, Joe walked to a bus stop, where a woman in tight pants asked him if he wanted a good time. That's when Old Joe knew he had to do something to take control of his own life. If he didn't, somebody else was going to do it for him.