Happy Father’s Day!
You may recall I wrote a little something about my mom on Mother’s Day. Well, it’s Father’s Day, so it’s Dad’s turn!
There are some things my Dad has instilled in me, not through lecturing, just through example.
It all boils down to this: In life, you can be a jerk or you can be a good guy. Be a good guy. Let’s break that down into its components!
Number one: don’t be an elitist snob. Treat others with respect, especially those that you don’t think you have to. Dad worked the night crew for years, so he knew this well. He was right – when I was working at the TV station, having a good relationship with the guys in Master Control saved my bacon on more than one occasion.
Number two: be nice to strangers. Now obviously, as a young woman you have to be selective about this, but really, life’s too short to stand off to the sides and keep your yap shut.
Number three: do unto others. Not from any biblical command, but because it makes other people smile, and that’s really the best reward. Dad kept candy in his desk drawer at work for years, becoming known as “the candy man.” It really made peoples’ days better.
Number four: stay down to Earth. And that brings us to the following. Dad is what I’d call a man of the people. He’s a smart guy from a family without much money, and he dropped out of school to go to work. Later he joined the Air Force and definitely made the most of his experience. This story takes place after he has shipped off to points North.
I took this down as he was telling it to me over the phone one day, so it’s in his own words. He didn’t know I was writing it down, so hopefully he won’t be mad. If so… I’m sorry, Dad! Love you!
“This was in Montana. The guys came up from Great Falls Air Force base. They knew some of the girls up there, and it was me and my girl and her sister. We had three carloads. We had three 16 gallon kegs of beer lashed to the bumper of the car, and went up to Beaver Creek state park.
You could look down and see a little beachlike park. So one of the guys had a keg on his shoulder. We went down first and he come down behind us. He said, ‘well this will float’ so he put it in the water and was going to wade down with it. It hit the rapids and he got in front of it and tried to stop it.
The rest of us was lying on the ground laughing.
But, as they say, all you could see was assholes and elbows when that thing hit him. We thought he was gonna drown.
Oh, that was a good three days’ party. We ended up on some guy’s horse ranch. To this day I have no idea who that guy was. Beautiful ranch. Got back to work three days later.
We worked three night, three swing, then three days, then were off for three days. You could make a pretty good party with that.”
I love this story. I can totally picture the guy crouched in front of the keg, baseball catcher style, getting slammed off his feet. It’s a Wil-E Coyote cartoon come to life.
Party on, Dad. Party on. And have a happy Father’s Day.
I love the matching video too. Your dad sounds like a hoot.
I love the matching video too. Your dad sounds like a hoot.
Oddly, I was just thinking of that exact word. He is, indeed, a hoot.
Oddly, I was just thinking of that exact word. He is, indeed, a hoot.
Your dad sounds awesome. 🙂
Your dad sounds awesome. 🙂
Hahah, the video is so cool. 🙂
Hahah, the video is so cool. 🙂