Welcome to your life's work. Would you like fries with that?

Our Meelyn, aged seventeen, works in a fast food restaurant because her dad and I feel that fast food restaurants are a microcosm of life and the working world. And also that nothing convinces a person of the VITAL, SEARING IMPORTANCE of a college education like working a drive-thru window.

Fortunately, Meelyn had this figured out before she even began this job a year ago, but today? Today was a banner day. Today she actually had someone illustrate a life lesson that her dad and I couldn't have come up with if we'd ordered it from Amazon.

The guy, who is a shift leader at the restaurant, was talking to Mee about his experiences in high school. "I made me some smart friends," he told her confidentially, "so that I could just cheat my way through and not have to, you know, study."

"Wow," said Meelyn, underwhelmed.

"And you know," he said, with the air of someone revealing a great secret of the universe, "I have NEVER READ AN ENTIRE BOOK."

"Imagine that," Meelyn marveled. "Never?"

"Nope," he said braggily. "Not one single book. But look at me! Here I am, a shift leader!"

Meelyn is a very nice girl, a much nicer person than I am, even though I feel like I am a decent Christian. With thoughts of Jesus in my head, I never would have allowed myself to say something fervent, all wide-eyed, like, "Yeah, you're really livin' the dream, dude!"

But I would have been standing there. Thinking it. Thinking it real hard.

(Actually, Meelyn was too.)