Being A Dad

I guess we all wish we had a father like Bill Cosby, Ward Cleaver, or Howard Cunningham; after we become dads ourselves, we want to be one of those dads. It'd be great to have just the right mix of compassion and discipline, and always have the perfect words or anecdote for every situation. But, we live in Realville, and most of us just aren't like that. You notice I didn't mention any current TV dads; that's because all of them are idiots; except Tom Selleck's Frank Reagan, on Bluebloods, he's genius and his name is Reagan. Anyway, when I was 15, I got my first job, working for anyone other than my dad. A guy that was renting a piece of property from my parents, owned a full service gas station, and offered me a summer job. I loved it! I worked about 50 hours a week, and brought home about a hundred bucks. I know that will barely pay for a stop at Buccee's these days, but in 1977, it was a pretty good chunk of change for 15 year old. One Friday, my mom picked me up from work and I mentioned that my pay check had been docked about 15 dollars. The register had come up short, and the owner had written a note, saying the shortage had been split between the 5 or 6 of of us that worked there. Later that night, my dad came and asked me about it: "Did you take the money?" he asked, "No", "Then why were you charged for it?", "Uh, damned if I know." Dad told me "That's bullshit!, a business owner can't just spread his losses out between his employees." He told me to go tell the guy, that I wanted my money or I was quitting. This was easy since the guy lived in our back yard. He also said, "If you don't want to tell him, I'll do it for you. The only people that are going to stand up for you, are you and me." So, I went and told the guy, and he gave me my money, then I got another job. Right there, in that one incident, I learned two very important things; the phrase I would use more than any other in life, "That's Bullshit!", and I learned to stand up for what's right, for yourself, and definitely for your kids. My dad was tough, and a lot of times he wasn't fair. That taught me life's tough, and it ain't fair, you just have to suck it up and deal with it, because whining about it doesn't do any good. When he warned me about things I shouldn't do, I thought he was full of crap, and it really sucked, EVERY, SINGLE TIME, when he turned out to be right. But, he let me make my own mistakes and see the consequences. Then, if I needed him to, he helped me fix it. Hardheadedness runs in my family, we usually have to learn things the hard way; the key is, we learn. My dad was a contractor, he left work before daylight and got home after dark, 7 days a week a lot of times. Regardless of how good or bad the economy was, he went to work, every day. Me and my two younger brothers go to work, every day. Some of the best leading, is by example. This past spring, my dad survived radiation and chemotherapy for lung cancer, and my oldest son and daughter-in-law, had my first grandson. Being a parent is tough. There's about a million ways you can screw up, and you almost have to get lucky, to get it right. It also helps to marry someone who's smarter than you, like I did. None of us are perfect, but, I think the biggest part of being a good parent, is putting in the effort. It's a lot of work; it's also, by far, the most rewarding and important thing I've ever done. As today's parents, it's our job to save the planet from the future generation, who are being raised by morons; and it's a big job because there are a bunch of them. So, all of you spend some time, today or tomorrow, with your dad and your kids. It'll mean more than anything you could buy them. Don't you love how I just told you all how to spend your weekend? Writing a blog is like being a parent and that's why I like it. I can tell other people what they should do. They probably never do it, but I enjoy telling them, just the same. Happy Father's Day to my dad, my son Triston, my two brothers, and all my buddies that are fighting the battle like me! Have a great weekend!

By the Way, I used the biggest font possible for this post. So all you old geezers, like me, trying to read this on your phone, won't have to get your readers out!