The Honor Was Mine...

retiredfarmer
Sat, 21 Jan 2017 16:47:54 +0000

Over 40 years ago I was interviewing a college applicant who wanted to be a physicist. During our 45 minute meeting, the young man noticed the complete Ricard Feynman lectures, still in their crystal wrapping paper. He said nothing about them. One could see the candy in his eyes.

These books had recently been given to me by a friend. At the end of our interview I asked if he had ever read the lectures. He said no, but that he planned on doing so. I handed him the set, and explained that they had been on my shelf for over a year and that they were likely not to be read on my schedule. This young man was into his physics.

Six or seven years later the books arrived in my mailbox with a thank you note from a new physics instructor with his freshly minted PhD. I was picking up my mail on my last day in town and leaving the university in search of a higher income.

This remembrance still picks me up on a bad day and reminds me that I gave up the most rewarding job I ever had for more money. Evidently money is not the full story.