My father told me last week, "part of your education is learning how to deal with stress." I must have been complaining. I almost laughed in his face. This man wants to get a warrant when people are an hour late with his DVDs. He throws a tantrum when the produce truck is 30 minutes late. He broke a plastic hanger in half because I moved rubber bands to a different cabinet.
He is cool when it is important, but "learning how to deal with stress" is not his strong suit.
I increased his blood pressure this evening. I asked him a question about fresh versus juice apples. He gave me the relevant information. Then he went into a tirade about Chinese dumping of juice concentrate. I warned him he did not want to hear my opinion. But I told him anyway.
The research I was aiding has to do with the impact of lifting the import ban on Chinese fresh apples. When I told him a Chinese student was conducting this research, he proceeded to tell me I needed to be in graduate school to protect American agricultural interests.
I told him I would never protect a farmer. I do not discriminate between video store owners and farmers.
He went into some land ethic (Jeffersonian) argument. He could not hear me, but I laughed in his face. Thank God he had to wait on a customer. It could have been ugly.
It is funny what education does to a person.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
I would have thought that from a revenue standpoint someone being late with your movie would be a good thing. Why does he stress? You aren't following Blockbuster with this no-late fees deal are you?
We had a de facto no late fee policy long before Blockbuster.
My father called later and said he had a premonition of a Bledsoe to Owens pass to win the Super Bowl. We both decided that would be the worse possible Super Bowl scenario ever.
And this is why America will always be #1 - we look out for #1. Seriously, without ruthless capitalists where would we be today?
When we help everyone, everyone loses. There should be no subsidies for anyone. It is Bastiat's "Petition of the Candlemakers" all over again.
My Dad is a fat bald middle aged white man who has just enough money in the bank to be considered middle class, can he really get a government subsidy? He also has too much pride to ask for a handout. Do not feed me that crock. He is going to vote for Virgil no matter if Virgil helps him or not. So, Virgil does not care about him.
Do video stores have a whole college working for them?
Sorry, WB, but I think your dad should have punched you. You can't laugh in his face. He has taught you a lot of what you value. It is your turn to teach him and laughing in someone's face is never the way to help them understand. Most of his reasons are because of ignorance. He has not had the eduction you have had, so this is your chance to be graceful to him. Then again, I am female and we tend to deal with things quite differently. I've been wondering what it feels like to punch someone in the face. Is it hard then soft or soft then hard?
ML: I love and respect my Dad. I have written on this blog how much I love and respect my Dad.
But you are right. I should teach not laugh.
I have never punched someone in the face. I have no idea how it feels.
GGM: The Virgil stuff was out of line.
The business school working for one industry. I see more mythical public good there than just working for agriculutre.
Post a Comment