If there's going to be a coup...

I'm convinced that the reason I stay in the foreign service is because of the friends I have made and the conversations we have.

A friend from Jerusalem had a party yesterday and everyone there was a friend from one of the posts were she had served (or a significant other of one of those). And as usual, we got talking about the great stories you get while in the service. Not just consular stories but all kinds of stories. We talked about our clearance interviews (some stories were funny, some were just sad). But my friend T really topped it.

She was in Manilla, out having dinner with some friends and local folks. And there had been talk of a coup. But some of the local folks were leaving dinner and going to a bar, and they invited her along. She was tempted to go...it was a nice night and she was having fun. And then she thought, perfectly calmly, "You know, if there is going to be a coup, I should probably go home."

Now where in the real world do you come up with lines like that!