Another Choice

by

For an afternoon that had started so bad, it sure was ending on a good note. Buck and Chris had been able to give him lots of information on what working in law enforcement and working in the military were really like. Both jobs still appealed to him. He had found that there were aspects to both that he didn't like so much, as well as ones that suited him perfectly. But that would be true of any career.

"Vin, if there was a job that suited you as well as these but that would mean having to get a degree, would you think about it?" JD asked.

The others looked at the youngest member of the family. JD often saw things from a different angle than the others, so would see things they had missed or not considered.

"Sure, I'm not trying to avoid college, I'm just wanting a job where I can do what I'm good at, and make a difference. I'm not as good at school as you are, but I do okay," Vin responded. He had gotten past being insecure about working for his few C's and mostly B's while JD got straight A's with no effort.

"What are you thinking, JD?" Buck asked, smiling. He loved how his boy's mind worked and the way that you could never tell what he was going to come up with next.

"Well, I agree that Vin would be really good at the police or military. But, I was thinking that there's something else he might like to do, too" JD said.

"What's that?" Vin asked, curious about what his little brother thought he should do.

"Like you said, you're good with a gun, and you like nature, and you know all about the animals and the plants and everything like that. I was thinking you would be a great park ranger or conservationist."

They all looked at JD.

"I never thought about that," Vin admitted, thoughtfully.

"You'd have quite a bit of schooling ahead of you and the competition for jobs in that field is tight," Buck told him. Not wanting to discourage, but wanting Vin to be aware of that.

Chris smiled as he saw Vin's face start to take on an excited look as he thought about a job he had never considered.

"I, think I would like being a ranger, too and part of what they do is law enforcement. I'd be doing what I love and making a difference.

"Yeah, that was what I was thinking," JD said, grinning at his brother.

"Ya' know, Chris, TJ's a ranger at Yellowstone, why don't we give him a call and see when he might be free for a visit and Vin can find out about what it is they do," Buck suggested.

"We could find out stuff on the Internet about it too, and you could get information mailed to you from the National Park Service," JD added excitedly.

"Recon I could go to the career center in school and see if they have internships or something like that to learn about it," Vin added.

"Or we could do all of that," Chris suggested.

Vin grabbed his pro and con list and started scribbling while JD and Buck excitedly bounced ideas around, with Chris adding in his ideas if they had not been mentioned.

Vin contentedly contemplated the idea of a career he had never considered that was looking better and better to him. It might not have been the future that he had envisioned, but then he had never envisioned himself with a family like this when he had been living in an abandoned warehouse, either.