He was in a phone booth, standing in a large puddle of freezing rainwater. “The graduation went well. I got an ‘Expert Marksman’ ribbon, two other ribbons and a stripe.”
“That’s so excellent John. So where is Tech School?”
“ Mississippi. I leave at 001 (chuckle). That’s one minute after midnight, tonight.”
“Are you flying?”
“Bus. I ride a bus for 13 hours.”
“How likely is it that you’ll go to Iraq?”
“Uh…it could happen…… I ran into a pilot in town and asked him about my job title. He said I’ll be working mostly with computers on a base, in a tower. So even if I am in Iraq, my job is not as dangerous as some because…they protect the bases pretty well, ya know?”
“So John, are you glad you did this?”
“Oh yah! It’s good.”
“I’m so glad to hear that. Now you’re through the bootcamp. That was what I worried about. Maybe that’ll be the worst.”
“Uh. No. Probably not the worst.”

“I have to go now to call grandma…… I think I’ll get myself a cell phone. Calling cards aren’t such a deal and I don’t like phone booths! I’ll call you as soon as I can. I love you Mom.”
“I so love you too, John.”