Have I ever told you about my dad’s tiny little man legs?
He once had to stand on a 2-inch platform for family
pictures because he was shorter than my 15-year-old brother. (Dad loves when I tell that story.)
Anyway, his legs are short, but let me tell you, when that man wants something, there is no way he’s going to let something as trivial
as having stubby legs slow him down or hold him back. Those suckers are fast. And I don’t just mean
fast. I’m talking, like, Road Runner-legs-in-a-circle-shaped-blur
fast.
And there’s nothing my dad will go faster for than free
stuff.
What kind of stuff, you ask? Oh, it doesn’t matter. My dad likes any free shit, no matter how
stupid. Once, when I was about 20 years
old and visiting home, he came bursting through the front door,
breathless. “Oh, Shay, thank God! I thought you’d already gone back to
college. I didn’t want you to leave
without seeing what I won!”
I looked up from my bowl of Ramen noodles to come
face-to-face with a coffee mug that said #1
Mom.
“What the fck do you need that for?” I asked, stupefied.
My dad got all huffy.
“Well, it doesn’t matter if I’m not a mom. I won it fair and square!”
I realized that the reason he was all pissy with me was
that he thought I was going to call whatever godforsaken place had bestowed the
gift upon him and tell, prompting them to re-evaluate their criteria for
winning and take it away from him. I just shook my head.
“Besides,” my dad continued, indignant, still practicing
his lines in case the manager really did call, “they don’t know. Maybe I want to give it to my wife.”
“You and Mom have been divorced for 6 years,” I reminded
him.
“Um, duh. But they don’t know that.”
I looked up at him, pretending to take the whole thing
seriously. “Dad, Mom cheated on you with
like 22 different people. I mean, she’s
a pretty good mom besides all of that, but I just don’t see the point in you
rewarding her behavior by giving her a #1
Mom mug. Shouldn’t you still be the
bitter ex?” I paused, acting like I was
mulling it over very seriously. “Do you want
me to give it to her instead so that it at least looks legit?”
“Shut up, Shay.
You know I’m not really giving it to her. You’re just jealous that I won and you
didn’t.”
“You’re right, Dad.
You’re exactly right. Because
what I really need more than anything in the world is a #1 Mom mug to drink my coffee out of in the presence of my
one-night stands the next morning. Shit,
old man, I hardly get callbacks as it is right now. Let’s not give them any more excuses to accidentally lose my number.”
My dad’s jaw dropped.
“Sweet Jesus, Shay…”
But then we both started laughing. I took pity on him and softened, taking the
mug and placing it front and center on the baker’s rack that was in our kitchen
for so many years. “Here,” I said,
buffing it a little bit with my napkin.
“How’s that?”
The proud tears shining in my dad’s eyes were all the
thanks I needed.
The point is, old man loves his free shit. Oh, and the other point—his legs are
short. Now you’re all set to hear the
rest.
A few weeks ago, my dad treated my brothers, husband, and
brothers-in-law to a baseball game. Of
course, he’d picked that particular game knowing that the first 25,000 people
who entered the stadium received a free bobblehead.
I got the story second-hand from my husband:
“We left early, but not as early as your dad would’ve
liked. He stopped speaking to us as soon
as we parked, except to shout over his shoulder, ‘You a-holes are slowing me
down!’ as he took off speed-walking. He
was convinced that all the bobbleheads would be gone, but we all figured,
judging from smallish size of the crowd that had gathered, that we had plenty
of time. So we just watched him go.”
My husband said that one of my brothers-in-law looked
over at him and let out an amazed breath, pointing in my dad’s direction and
saying, “That man has the squattiest legs I have ever seen, but damn, he can
really go!”
I tried to tell them, my peeps. I tried.
Alas, Dad didn’t get a bobblehead. He was something like the 25,003rd
person to run breathless through the gates.
I suppose lightning-quick, stubby legs can only do so much.
There was a time that he had a different outcome,
though. It was at a different ballgame
several years prior to this one. And
everyone, no matter what order they came through the gates, got a shirt.
The only caveat?
You had to be 13 or younger.
My younger brother was the unfortunate one who had gone
to the game with Dad that day. Dad
hadn’t told him the details; he was going to save that for after they’d already
walked through the gates. As they got
closer to the woman who was handing out the shirts, my dad roughly nudged my
brother.
“Stoop down!” he whispered.
My brother looked at him, confused. “What?”
“You can’t be older than 13 to get the damned
shirts. Stoop down!” he said, louder and faster and out of the corner of
his mouth, as they were rapidly approaching the shirt box.
“Holy shit, Dad,” my brother said, rolling his eyes. “I’m 21 years old. It’s obvious that I’m not 13!”
“I said STOOP DOWN!”
Dad shoved my brother down a couple of feet and held his hands on his
shoulders so my brother was stuck in a squat when they got to the shirts. Dad kicked my brother’s hand so he was forced
to stretch it out for a shirt.
The lady manning the box peered at my brother over her
glasses. “You’re 13?” she asked.
My brother shrugged helplessly. Dad let go of his shoulders, trusting that my
brother wouldn’t blow it for him by standing up. He stepped up to the woman and verbally jostled
with her a little bit. My brother caught
the words “unfortunate growth disorder” but could tell the woman wasn’t buying
it. But what the hell could she do?
She finally, reluctantly, handed over the shirt to my
brother, who had to duck-walk away with it because my dad wouldn’t let him
stand up until they were out of the lady’s line of sight.
Finally, when my dad would allow it, my brother stood to
full height and gave Dad a little shoulder shove back. “What the fck is wrong with you, old man? Stoop
down?!”
My dad, sensing an usher nearby, let an indignant look
pass over his face as he gave my brother a quick flicky-wrist slap to the back
of the head. “Can you believe that?” he
said to no one in particular, but loud enough for everyone to hear. “Thirteen years old and he talks to his
father that way?”
The shirt was tiny.
My brother is skinny, and even on him, it fit like a belly shirt. But just to be a smartass, he wore it for the
rest of the game as he swilled beer, hoping my dad would get hauled off to Child Protective Services
for letting his 13-year-old drink.
And that shirt?
Although not one of my dad’s 5 kids had kids of their own
back then, he pulled it out five years later, when the first nephew of the
family was born.
And it’s now that little guy’s favorite shirt.
Well played, old man.
Well played.
Hilarious! Stoop down, classic.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Anita! I hope all is well with you!
Deletehaha! I love how real your family is, no matter how harsh! Thanks for the good laugh!
ReplyDeleteThank YOU for reading, Allison! Do you have a blog?
DeleteOMG, that's hysterical!!!!! I always AVOID all of the free stuff because I feel like it's too much effort for something I won't use. From now on, I'll ship it all directly to your dad. :) xoxo
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly how I am, Dani. I'm like--you keep that shit because I don't need MORE crap to throw away in my house. But my dad--hell NO. It's like a sin that will take you to the 7th layer of hell to throw something away...
DeleteI'm just loving that you eat Ramen too :) Happy Friday!
ReplyDeleteOh, Ramen is one of my faves, Kate! Have you tried the cheesy Ramen??
DeleteYou really should write a book. Or a screenplay. Your family stories crack me up, and your delivery is spot on. So are the tiny man legs hereditary?
ReplyDeleteDana, I love you more than you will ever know for this comment. :) I have written books, but they were all before this (and my last) blog, and I don't think I had found my writing style just yet. Luckily they were never published b/c I'm sure I would cringe to look back on them now. I started blogging about 5 years ago to practice my writing while still sending out query letters--and what happened was I ended up finding my writing style, loving this form of writing, and focusing on it instead. One of these days I'll get back into the novel-type stuff, but I can't help it--I love blogging! Oh, and the tiny man legs? Totally not hereditary. I am a tall, gangly mofo, and so is my youngest bro! The rest are all in between.
DeleteAhahaha! I love you! I literally laughed out loud (while Brian was snoring away next to me) when you said your brother wore the belly shirt during the game- The visual was priceless!
ReplyDeleteYou know I love you right back, and consider your laugh out loud payback since I always laugh out loud at your posts, too!
Deleteha ha, I love how you talk to your dad. And your mom sounds like a baller. Glad to know about your blog, and can't wait for more posts!
ReplyDeleteWe all have a great relationship, so it is fun. Thanks, and I can't wait to have you back for more posts!
Deleteomg Shay, your Dad cracks me the hell up! Love your family stories. I could picture it all, hear your Dad's voice and the dialogue? Killer. "Stoop down!" hahahaha
ReplyDeleteLinda, he is the best. And blog GOLD, that man. :)
Deletelol
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteI bet he was pissed when he missed out on the bobble head!
ReplyDeleteHe was! But my husband and brother-in-law went and found someone who had one and paid him $20 for it so they could give it to Dad. He said they both earned major "points" for that, as he has all of the brothers-in-law working on a point system. They get points for bringing him beers, mowing his lawn, etc. I have no clue why all of the guys are so into it and competitive about it, but they are. So my hubs and bro-in-law were all excited about their points and made sure to rub it into my little sister's husband's face because he did not earn any points that day. So it all worked out. Haha!
Deletehahahaha that is sooo funny! Even more funny that he KEPT the shirt. Your dad sounds a lot like my dad, he was barely 5 feet tall, but he did this spin-move, none of could catch him unless he was drinking.
ReplyDeleteUnless he was drinking! I love that!! Made me laugh out loud, Joy.
DeleteClassic!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteI'm picturing your dad to look like Danny Devito. Am I close??
ReplyDeleteOh, Amy, I love that comparison, and I have definitely used it before! Haha. Dad will say that he is a lot more handsome than Danny DeVito, but then Dad will say he's a lot more handsome than Brad Pitt, too. But my dad always reminds me of Danny DeVito in the things that he says and the way that he acts. A very lovable Danny DeVito, of course. :)
DeleteI love this. I am SOOOOOOO GLAD I found your blog. I was Rolling while reading this. Thank you for the laugh
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Jessi. I revisited this one after you left your comment, and I couldn't help but laugh again. My dad is hilarious, but what I think makes him even more that way is because half the time he doesn't even mean to be. He's just a character. Thanks again for reading!!
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