Re: Dental/Orthodontic issues/ what dad's do - Mike

[Guest guest]

>

> Mike-you horrid man!

....dad would say, right in front of the young men he didn't approve

of, " when's that boy leaving? " and it was only after minutes. and/or

he'd even threaten them with broken bodily parts if they didn't

treat me well. ... (and there's been only one so lucky as to avoid

that fate.) Rod- I brought him home to meet the folks and dad has

yet to do either one. We'll be married 35 years this year.

>

> Poor Barb......now I understand why you've been picked on here on

the list......you deserve it....

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In my defense (and to tell the other side of the coin), she also has

never forgotten the night in high school when she was driving Mom's

car (in the winter, in Anchorage, in the snow and ice) and ended up

going off the road into a ditch.

Since this was before cell phones were commonly in use, we found out

about it when I got a phone call at home from the Anchorage Police

telling me that my daughter had been involved in a car accident and

where she was. Three times on the phone I asked if she was OK and

never got an answer.

When I (very quickly) got to where she was, the cop was still

there. The first thing I did when I got there was go to Barb and

ask her if everybody was OK, did anybody get hurt? She immediately

starts to bubble up and get all apologetic about putting her mom's

car in the ditch. I just said " Screw the car! Cars can be fixed.

That's why I have insurance. Is everybody OK? " They were.

As I am walking over to the cop, I hear one of her friends behind me

tell Barb " I can't believe it! My dad would have killed me. "

I walked up to cop and said " Were you the one who called me? " He

said " Yes, " at which point I violated everything I know about face

to face interactions with law enforcement personnel. I started

jabbing him in the chest with my finger while very loudly and

forcefully telling him " Don't you EVER again call a parent and tell

them their kid has been in an accident without answering their

questions on whether anybody got hurt! " I finger-jabbed him a good

6-8 feet down the road.

As for what YOUR dad used to do, except once, I had a long time

understanding with Barb. I used to shoot competition pistol, love

to play pool and am nuts about fishing. My criteria for Barb

getting my " approval " when the time came was that her selection had

to be able to outshoot with my own gun, beat me on my pool table

with my cue, and outfish me with my own gear. I knew she was

getting serious when she started taking " someone " to the range and

teaching that " someone " to play pool...

[Guest guest]

You gotta love dad's like you and my father for caring like they

do.

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It just sometimes takes them awhile to see it that way.

On the other hand, I also remember the time Barb was being pressured

by some of her friends to do something she wasn't comfortable with

and I came down with a resounding " No Way! " Some time later, Barb

told me the rest of the story (when she thanked me for saying no.)

Seems her friends, instead of being upset like she thought they were

going to be, simply said " Well, at least your parents care. Mine

don't care what I do. "

[Guest guest]

You gotta love dad's like you and my father for caring like they

do.

-----------------

It just sometimes takes them awhile to see it that way.

On the other hand, I also remember the time Barb was being pressured

by some of her friends to do something she wasn't comfortable with

and I came down with a resounding " No Way! " Some time later, Barb

told me the rest of the story (when she thanked me for saying no.)

Seems her friends, instead of being upset like she thought they were

going to be, simply said " Well, at least your parents care. Mine

don't care what I do. "