Jon was pulled from his elective Mass Media class the following day and told to report to the front office. Was he in trouble somehow?
“Mr. Gibson,” said guidance counselor Rebecca Fine with her characteristically stony face, “I’m going to offer you a rare opportunity and I sincerely hope that you will take it.”
“I think I prefer my opportunities to be medium-well,” Jon tried to smirk momentarily at his own pun, but Miss Fine’s expression told him that this wasn’t the time for jokes.
“You may have heard about the governor cutting our school budget so that he could fund a subsidy for his friends’ seal-clubbing expedition.”
“Are they going to club adult seals?” Jon asked.
“No. And these seals are all endangered. And we are fully aware that these species of seals are all keystone species for their respective ecosystems, and their removal will cause further collapses throughout the ocean, likely affecting the supply of fish for human consumption in a starkly negative manner, among other things.”
“Why would he do that?”
Miss Fine gave a very short shrug. “People were upset about the price of eggs, so they voted to club baby seals.”
Jon took a moment to process that statement.
“In any case, I’m not taking any partisan stances on our governor’s obviously-immoral policy positions. I just needed to inform you that if you agree to switch into Home Ec instead of Mass Media, the school will be able to adhere to grant criteria which will keep us solvent for the next year. And you will become eligible for a $50,000 college scholarship that I will personally help you apply for.”
Jon put a finger to his chin and pursed his lips in concentration, but quickly dropped the expression. “Where do I sign up?”
