Josh in College

The other night I received one of those longed-for and seldom delivered gifts: an email from Josh's best college friend, containing a story about their lives in those days.  I hope he doesn't mind my posting it anonymously.  

I so enjoyed the glimpse of Josh as a young man in college, and I got a good chuckle from the last sentence.  University of Chicago students are notorious for their capacity to intellectualize everything; Josh was no exception.  One of my favorites of his U of C t-shirts says, "That's all well and good in practice, but how does it work in theory?"

From another terrific young man, now working in Australia:

"Recently I've been . . . looking to learn new skills, improve existing skills, and enrich the quality of my day-to-day life. Back at U of C I first started reading things about . . . being a more social person . . .   .

One night Josh and I were at the campus pub, and over a pitcher of beer I was regaling him with a long-winded discourse on the best ways to approach women, effective things to say, etc.

Josh listened patiently, and then drew my attention to an attractive blonde girl standing on the other side of the bar. Josh said, "V, I'll believe everything you just said, if you go and talk to that girl right now."

I have always regretted not doing it. As I continue to work on consistently taking action in all areas of life, rather than just intellectually theorizing about them, I have repeatedly come back to that memory."