The Gas Station at Rainbow's End
- Here we go. Our future warrior-trainee Dan sets off from home to the Berkeley campus to begin college. A fast-forward through his first two years tells us he wins tons of gymnastics trophies, enjoys steamy visits from his lady friend Susie, and feels on top of the world.
- Seems like everything is peachy-keen.
- Boom. Trouble starts. Living alone, he finds himself regularly waking up in a cold sweat from a recurring dream about a Grim Reaper/Death figure beckoning him with a bony finger. (He's in the Symbols, Imagery, and Allegory section, by the way.)
- In the dream a white-haired man appears and tosses the spooky character away, then welcomes Dan. The student merges into him and becomes a robe-wearing person himself, praying. Weird.
- One night, sleepless at three in the morning (who knows, maybe he downed energy drinks before an exam?), Dan takes off for a gas station to get snacks. And who does he find sitting outside but the old man from his dream.
- The encounter spooks Dan out, but also fascinates him. Disoriented, he leaves the station. Lo and behold, seconds after Dan walks past him sitting, the white-haired man is on the roof.
- Dan gapes. The man offers to help him, which makes Dan even more creeped out. This begins a back-and-forth conversation where this old dude gives odd, vexing answers to everything Dan asks, never answering anything straightforwardly. Kind of like the Sphinx or a Zen teacher.
- The man even starts calling Dan a fool and a jackass, and himself a warrior.
- (FYI, most of this book consists of Socrates and Dan's debate-y, idea-heavy conversations about how to live life. We don't want to clog up your summary with a tedious log of every word.
- Instead, when you want to get the main points of Socrates' philosophy, check out Theme 1: Happiness, Theme 2: Life, Consciousness and Existence, Theme 3: Mortality, and Theme 4: Dreams, Hopes, and Plans.)
- The old dude talks Dan into helping him repair cars at the station. Dan does so and keeps asking him how he got on the roof. The man reveals frustratingly little info. Eventually Dan leaves for home, nicknaming the man Socrates as he says goodbye. You know, that Socrates out of ancient Greek philosophy.
- Dan can't get his mind off Socrates the following day and returns the next night. Sure enough, Socrates is there. Dan tells him about the dream, and the man replies the dream is a good one.
- More question-asking-plus-vexing-answering ensues. Socrates tells Dan he can be his teacher and help him see life clearly, because Dan, he says, is full of false ideas and doesn't understand himself. Dan says this all sounds too extreme, but continues to be intrigued.
- Socrates promises to show the young man body wisdom—which turns out to be the surprise sight of the old man urinating. Gross.
- Then Socrates asks the student where he is. Dan is led into admitting he doesn't know where the universe itself is. Socrates says this means the student doesn't know where he is and tells him he needs to accept that life is a mystery. Next the old man tosses Dan onto the sofa when he tries to show off with a gymnastic trick… and then snaps across to the other side of the room somehow.
- Socrates tells Dan he can teach him how to become a doubt-free warrior. The young man retorts that he's already a success, a world champion gymnast. Socrates taunts him in response.
- Dan says the choice boils down to picking between pursuing his gymnastics goals and listening to a strange old gas station attendant trying to draw him into an insane fantasy world. But, just after saying this, Dan remembers a story about townspeople who, after drinking polluted water, foolishly believed their insanity was sanity, and he wonders if it's his own world that's nuts, not Socrates'.
- The student leaves. He tries to immerse himself in his gymnastics and school until he receives a note in his mailbox from Socrates promising rooftop secrets. Dan returns to the gas station and hears the old man explain who ninjas were in ancient Japan. Socrates apparently is a ninja, with an elite jumping ability.
- The late nights continue. Socrates listens to Dan reveal his life story as they repair cars and keeps him on his toes with a bunch of ninja tricks like tossing him in a river when they take a walk or throwing stuff at him.
- Socrates keeps giving him advice like telling him to take responsibility for his own life rather than blaming others or circumstances.
- Dan remains a mix of intrigued and suspicious. As he focuses on school for a while, the choice between the ordinary world and Socrates' world plagues him with doubts. It even keeps him from enjoying Susie's company. Finally he decides to try taking Socrates seriously.