She stares at the page, then hands it over. “What’s this?” I say. “Your Assignment,” she says. “More specifically, it’s a list of ten books. You’ll need to memorize the list before I return you to the hospital.” “You want me to read these books?” “Whether you do or not is your prerogative. That’s not your Assignment, however.” “Which is?” “Return to America and include each of these books in the required reading list for high school students. In all likelihood, your superiors will take one look at your recommendations and ask you kindly to change them. If you don’t change the list, they won’t hesitate to fire you. They will, of course, change the list themselves. And if you do change the list when they ask, they’ll thank you and then wait for the next possible excuse to fire you.” “If that’s true, then what’s the point?” “Because after you refuse to change the list, you won’t take your dismissal lying down.” I wonder if that phrase originated as a sex joke.
