Mr. Know it All

My dad just called me and the first question he asked is, "Are you going out tonight?" - No dad. My dad is the kind of man that wants his kids to experience life and make a bunch of memories to look back on laugh. Don't get me wrong, my dad loves that he raised good kids, but it secretly kills him that my sister and I aren't out 'experiencing college' as he puts it. My sister and I find it so funny that my dad is the one that is pressuring us to go out and have fun. His main rule is A's and B's in the school work and social aspect of school. Last year my sister got a 4.0 at Drexel (which is awesome, GO SIS!!!), but my dad still jokes that she failed socially because she didn't go out. My mom gets so angry at my dad's comments, but he doesn't want his kids to be locked up in their rooms doing work, missing out on life. My dad just wants the best for his kids, he just has a weird way of showing it.

Another joke my sister and I make about my dad is that he can only talk about two things, 1.) wrestling, and 2.) construction. Though my dad denies it and says that he can talk to anyone about anything, my sister and I are right. The second topic of conversation that we talked about on our 13 minute phone call was what happened at his work today. He told me nonchalantly that one of his workers flipped a dump truck on its side by trying to empty it on an angle. For a second I thought he was kidding, how could he possible tell me this happened without being the least bit angry? But he went into explaining the whole situation, using construction lingo, dropping a couple f bombs. My dad was explaining the story to me like I was one of his workers and I knew everything he was talking about. He was like "My worker probably cost be $5,000, but what really pissed me off was that he made me late to dinner with your sister!" (Where my dad is working is right by TCNJ- where my sister now goes to school. I keep telling him to bid jobs by me.) He said with a laugh, "I was fuming so I put on my head phones (these really big wireless headphones that block out every other sound), downloaded a couple songs, and listened to music as I ran my machines. At the end of the day I fired him." This story probably isn't funny unless you know Pat and can picturing him doing this.

I'm so glad my dad called me tonight. The phone call was a bit of comic relief from my hectic day, (an english quiz, chem exam, lab, and spanish exam). I love talking to my dad because he always has a moral to his stories. He has taught me how important it is to balance work and having a life outside of work. He has showed me I need to experience college because it is the only four years of my life I am able to do this. I've learned that getting upset about something that you cannot change won't fix it, you can only move on and do better next time. Every time we talk he tells me that he is proud of me, which inspires me to keep up with all my hard work.

My dad does not have goals for me, he makes it so I can have goals for myself. He never wanted me to feel pressured into going away to school or feel overwhelmed by his expectations. All my dad expects from me is that I do the best I can in everything I do. That is why I love him.