Father's Day

Father's Day is a special day for me.  Since I'm not yet a father, I celebrate the day, not only for the man I call "Dad", but, for my mom as well.

You see, many many many years ago in a land not so far away (approximately 39 years ago and 82 miles), my mom decided she'd had enough and left my dad.  My "natural" dad is what I call him, sperm donor is what my darling wife has named him.

My mom eventually met this great guy, started dating, and when I was four, they married.

Truth be told, I have a really hard time calling him my step-father or step-dad.  Why?  Well, he's never treated me any different than my two brothers; yes, brothers, not step-brothers.  He praised us all the same when we were deserving and he kicked our asses all the same when we were deserving.

When I was seven, my dad legally adopted me.  I took his surname and am really glad I did for a number of reasons.  First, because he was my dad.  He provided for me, he took care of all us kids, he took care of my mom, he raised me.  Second, my previous surname was a royal pain in the ass to write (too long for a then seven year old).  Last, the name was constantly mispronounced and misspelled.  However, I didn't know the best part of changing names until many years later.

It wasn't until I got older that I realized how great of a person my dad is, and how my mom, being so brave back in 1972 to leave someone so abusive, was. 

Having this great man come into our lives is the greatest gift my mom ever gave me, or for that matter, us. 

Happy Father's Day, Dad!  Have a great day and don't let mom tell you what to do!  It's your day!

Happy Father's Day, Mom!  Don't tell dad what to do or eat today and thanks for giving me such a great dad!

Common Courtesy

When the fuck did people lose this?  Maybe they never had it...  Did they miss those days at school when it was taught?  Are their parents such assholes that they never taught their children to be decent human beings?  And what does it say that here you are, an adult, and you have your head screwed on backwards?

I'm the first to admit...I come off rough.  I say things in a tone that make people say to themselves "what an asshole."  And that's fine, there's many people in front of you, so, take a number.  But one thing I do know is that I practice common courtesy. 

If I am at Costco and say you're are looking at a suitcase, I'm not going to step in front of you, remove the suitcase from the rack, and put it in my cart to have a closer look at it.  You'd probably want to punch me in the head if I did something like that, or, at the very least, tell me off.  Right?

One thing I can tell you is to this day, my parents would kick my ass if I didn't show common courtesy to someone else.

So I'm left wondering...where did our common courtesy go?