[JenBurdoo] You could at least smiled

[JenBurdoo]

Billy has good news for his friend, Tom. When they meet on the street, Billy greets Tom with this news, then asks where Tom is going. When Tom glumly answers, Billy is afraid of the consequences for himself. But all is well. Explain.

[trebor]

Are they both HAMs? Do they know each other through school? Work? Extracurricular activities?

[JenBurdoo]

Are they both HAMs? Yes. Do they know each other through school? Work? Yes to both. Extracurricular activities? Possible but irrelevant.

[GalFisk]

Good news for: Tom specifically? Billy and Tom? Someone else?
Is Tom's glumness related to the news? To where Tom's going? To something else?
Does Billy misunderstand Tom's glumness? If so, does he think it's related to the news? To where Tom's going? To something else?
Is Billy afraid of consequences from Tom? A person? An entity? Crime relevant? Romance? Friendship? Punishment? Fines? Work? Is Billy's profession relevant? Tom's?

[hominid]

Are Billy and Tom teachers? School employees? Classmates who are also coworkers? Former classmates who are coworkers? Does Billy know that all is well? If he hadn't told Tom the news, would he still be worried?

[JenBurdoo]

Good news for: Tom specifically? This. Billy and Tom? Someone else?
Is Tom's glumness related to the news? To where Tom's going? Possibly. To something else? But more likely none of these.
Does Billy misunderstand Tom's glumness? Yes. If so, does he think it's related to the news? No. To where Tom's going? Yes. To something else?
Is Billy afraid of consequences from Tom? A person? An entity? This. Crime relevant? For svv. Romance? Friendship? Their friendship is relevant. Punishment? Fines? Work? Is Billy's profession relevant? Tom's? Yes to both.

Are Billy and Tom teachers? School employees? Yes to both, actually, but not now, and irrelevant. Classmates who are also coworkers? Former classmates who are coworkers? This. Does Billy know that all is well? No. If he hadn't told Tom the news, would he still be worried? If he hadn't met Tom, he wouldn't be worried.

[JenBurdoo]

Hint: Billy congratulates Tom on getting a new job.

[Mimino]

Do Tom and Billy now have the same job? did they have before? Are they working now for the same company? Were they before?
Did Billy know about his new job already before Tom told him?
Is Billy's glumness related to his job? Was he not happy about the new job?
Is Billy heading to his old workplace? to his new workplace?
Did Billy want to change his job? want to change his employer? Did Billy get promoted?
Were Tom and Billy working for the government? army? police?

[JenBurdoo]

Got the names reversed; adjusted.

Do Tom and Billy now have the same job? Yes. did they have before? Yes. Are they working now for the same company? Yes. Were they before? Yes.
Did Tom know about his new job already before Billy told him? No.
Is Tom's glumness related to his job? Possibly. Was he not happy about the new job? Difficult to answer; debateable.
Is Tom heading to his old workplace? to his new workplace? This, for SVV of "new workplace."
Did Tom want to change his job? No. want to change his employer? No. Did Tom get promoted? Yes.
Were Tom and Billy working for the government? army? This. police?

[Sundowner]

Are Tom and Billy in the same unit? Is Tom superior to Billy? Billy superior to Tom?
Does Tom after the promotion have the same rank as Billy? a higher rank?
Does Tom's promotion mean that he will work at a different place? that he will have to move to a different city?

[JenBurdoo]

Are Tom and Billy in the same unit? Irr. Is Tom superior to Billy? Billy superior to Tom? Neither.
Does Tom after the promotion have the same rank as Billy? This. a higher rank?
Does Tom's promotion mean that he will work at a different place? that he will have to move to a different city? Yes to both.

[Sundowner]

Will Tom and Billy then work in the same place? live in the same city? do they now?
Are the consequences Billy is afraid of related to Tom's relocation?
Do Billy and Tom share some pastime activity?
Do Billy and Tom share an apartment or house?

[JenBurdoo]

Will Tom and Billy then work in the same place? live in the same city? No to both. do they now? Yes.
Are the consequences Billy is afraid of related to Tom's relocation? ... Yesish.
Do Billy and Tom share some pastime activity? No.
Do Billy and Tom share an apartment or house? No.

[Earnest]

Is Bill afraid that Tom is better than he does in his work? Is Bill afraid of being fired? Relocated?
Can we assume that Tom asked fr that job? Did Bill talk about him to his superior? Relevant?

Relevant what role they had in the army?
Did Tom have more info than Bill? E.g. Tom said he was going to fight in Afghanistan which meant that Bill had to?
Did Tom answer that he was going to a very fa place? a pub? a city? A relatively near place? AA place near Tom and Bill? He said that the info was restricted?

But all is well. --> i.e., there are no negative consequences neither for Tom nor for Bill? Tom was joking? Meaning that Bill did not fear for himself but for Tom? For neither of the two?

WAG --> they both cover the same role in the army. The fact that there were two people covering the exact same role meant that there was a high possibility of dying for one of the two (most probably the one that goes first). Bill was relieved for himself when he was aid that he shouldn't go first (but was afraid for Tom).

[JenBurdoo]

Is Bill afraid that Tom is better than he does in his work? No. Is Bill afraid of being fired? Relocated? Yes to both.
Can we assume that Tom asked for that job? Irr. Did Bill talk about him to his superior? Yes. Relevant? Yes.

Relevant what role they had in the army? They were generals.
Did Tom have more info than Bill? In a sense. E.g. Tom said he was going to fight in Afghanistan which meant that Bill had to? No.
Did Tom answer that he was going to a very far place? No, but... a pub? No. a city? No. A relatively near place? Yes. A place near Tom and Bill? Yes. He said that the info was restricted? No.

But all is well. --> i.e., there are no negative consequences neither for Tom nor for Bill? Correct.. Tom was joking? No. Meaning that Bill did not fear for himself but for Tom? No. For neither of the two? No.

WAG --> they both cover the same role in the army. The fact that there were two people covering the exact same role meant that there was a high possibility of dying for one of the two (most probably the one that goes first). Bill was relieved for himself when he was aid that he shouldn't go first (but was afraid for Tom). No.

[Sundowner]

Is Billy worried because he meets Tom? in this place?
Is Tom's glumlyness related to the place where he is heading? to the news that he gets promoted? did he misunderstand something?
Did Billy talk to his superior in order to help Tom? Did he think his efforts failed when he saw Tom's glum face?
Was Billy's talk with his superior related to Tom's promotion? Was Tom already promoted at this moment?
Is Tom heading to a place at work? to the canteen? to his superior? home?
Do Billy and Tom meet at their workplace? in the street? outdoors?

[JenBurdoo]

Is Billy worried because he meets Tom? in this place? No to both.
Is Tom's glumlyness related to the place where he is heading? Assume yes. to the news that he gets promoted? No. did he misunderstand something? No.
Did Billy talk to his superior in order to help Tom? Yes. Did he think his efforts failed when he saw Tom's glum face? Yope.
Was Billy's talk with his superior related to Tom's promotion? Yes. Was Tom already promoted at this moment? No.
Is Tom heading to a place at work? This. to the canteen? to his superior? home?
Do Billy and Tom meet at their workplace? in the street? This. outdoors? Yes.

[Sundowner]

Was Tom heading to this place because he got an order to show up in a certain place? Did he look glumly because he expected bad consequences for himself? did he have a reason to assume so?

[JenBurdoo]

Was Tom heading to this place because he got an order to show up in a certain place? No, but ... Did he look glumly because he expected bad consequences for himself? No. did he have a reason to assume so? No, but Billy might have thought so.

[Earnest]

Billy greets Tom with this news --> wa Bill the first to give the news to Tom? did Bill tell Tom all the info he knew? I mean...did he say something like "Congratulation for your new job" to Tom. Bill also knew where Tom was going since he talked to his superior before and expected a certain answer from Tom. Tom, however, gave a different answer than he expected and Billy was afraid of the consequences due to this answer. Is it something like that?

If so, all became well when: Tom speciied that he would have gone to the place that Bill expected afterwards? That he (Tom) was wrong?
Did Tom replied to the answer of Bill assuming something else? E.g. Bill asked "where are you going (meaning "to work")?" but Tom assumed that Bill referred to "where he was going in general"?

Did Biill ensure his superiors about something? Did he anticipate something to his superiors expecting that Tom would have taken a certain decision? did he assume the responsability for Tom's behavior?

A place near Tom and Bill? Yes --> a public place? Outdoor? Indoor? Is it a physical place? On a n army mean of transport (tank? aiplane? boat? others?)? On a public mean of transport (e.g. anti terrorism)? Was the place called with a nickname by soldiers? Did Tom say that he was going to a speciic place or to someone? I mean...somehing like "where are you going" " I am going my superior" (which indicated indirctly also a place) Relevant?
Is Tom heading to a place to work? If soo iss his work: anti terrrism? Controlling passengers? Find drugs? Any public-related job?
Did Tom answer that he was going to a very far place? No, but... --> did Tom say that he was going to the airport? (Bill understood that he was going to take a plane, while, insstead he was going to make his job)?

Did Tom refer to Bill as he was referring to a suprior? Relvan? Were the two talking while being on duty?

WAG: maybe Bill asked his superior to giveTom an official post. Tom said that he was going to the graveyard when Bill asked. Bill was afraid when Tom replied since he thought that it was a metaphor for saying that he was going to die. , But then Tm specified that he was going to officiate a funeral cerimony for a fellow soldier (which is not good at all actually...)

[JenBurdoo]

Billy greets Tom with this news --> wa Bill the first to give the news to Tom? Yes. did Bill tell Tom all the info he knew? Yes. I mean...did he say something like "Congratulation for your new job" to Tom. No, he was more specific. Bill also knew where Tom was going since he talked to his superior before and expected a certain answer from Tom. Tom, however, gave a different answer than he expected and Billy was afraid of the consequences due to this answer. Is it something like that? Something like that. He didn't expect a certain answer, but he didn't expect the one he got.

If so, all became well when: Tom speciied that he would have gone to the place that Bill expected afterwards? That he (Tom) was wrong?
Did Tom replied to the answer of Bill assuming something else? E.g. Bill asked "where are you going (meaning "to work")?" but Tom assumed that Bill referred to "where he was going in general"? Pretty much exactly the opposite. Bill assumed Tom had given a general answer, but Tom was being specific.

Did Biill ensure his superiors about something? Yes. Did he anticipate something to his superiors expecting that Tom would have taken a certain decision? Yes. did he assume the responsability for Tom's behavior? Yes.

A place near Tom and Bill? Yes --> a public place? No. Outdoor? Indoor? Yes. Is it a physical place? Yes. On a n army mean of transport (tank? aiplane? boat? others?)? On a public mean of transport (e.g. anti terrorism)? It was possible to walk there. Was the place called with a nickname by soldiers? Probably. Did Tom say that he was going to a speciic place or to someone? No. I mean...somehing like "where are you going" " I am going my superior" (which indicated indirctly also a place) Relevant? Yes.
Is Tom heading to a place to work? No, but the journey is job-related. If soo iss his work: anti terrrism? Controlling passengers? Find drugs? Any public-related job? None of these.
Did Tom answer that he was going to a very far place? No, but... --> did Tom say that he was going to the airport? No. (Bill understood that he was going to take a plane, while, insstead he was going to make his job)? No, but OTRT. This occurred before planes.

Did Tom refer to Bill as he was referring to a suprior? Relvan? No to both. Were the two talking while being on duty? No.

WAG: maybe Bill asked his superior to giveTom an official post. Yes. Tom said that he was going to the graveyard when Bill asked. Bill was afraid when Tom replied since he thought that it was a metaphor for saying that he was going to die. , But then Tm specified that he was going to officiate a funeral cerimony for a fellow soldier (which is not good at all actually...) No, but again, you have the right idea - Bill did misconstrue Tom's answer.

[JenBurdoo]

SPOILER:





Tom is George Thomas. Bill is William Sherman. Both became Union generals during the American Civil War, but this is set at its beginning, in 1861.

Unusually, Thomas was a southerner, a Virginian slaveowner who remained with the Union and became one of its greatest unsung commanders. Sherman, his friend, had recently vouched for him with the War Department and secured a promotion for Thomas. When they met on the streets of Washington, DC, Sherman greeted his friend with the news that Thomas was now a general, then asked where Thomas was going.

"South," Thomas replied in his customary dour manner.

Sherman was suddenly uncomfortably aware that Thomas might have decided to resign his commission, go south to Virginia and join the Confederate Army, thus putting Sherman himself in a lot of trouble.

And then Thomas explained that of course he had to walk south, through the city of Washington, for the next few minutes, to visit the War Department and receive his new orders!