While in the store, picking up a last-minute Father's Day card (not too shabby, considering that I originally thought last week was Father's Day), I came across a card I really, really wanted to get (in and of itself, this is already a miracle. Commercial greeting cards stink, quite frankly, and I can hardly ever find one that conveys a sentiment I don't disagree with). A cartoon girl on the cover muses (and I paraphrase):
"Dad, I know the relationship between between a father and a daughter isn't the same as that between a father and his son..."
On the inside, she grins and says:
"But I could drop a few IQ points to recreate the experience!
Happy Father's Day!"
Brilliant! Funny, cute, true, this card has it all! I go to buy it, until I stop to consider the implications in the relationship between my father and myself. Hmmmm...perhaps now is not the time to point out that I'm not the number one son my father always wanted. He resented me for it and I'd always been slightly bitter about that, so best not to dredge up old wounds. Also, now is probably not the best moment to highlight the differences in, er, professional/intellectual success between his male and female children. Jobless wonders can be very sensitive, you know (OK, that was mean, but we are no longer allowed to talk about his situation anymore because it might "pressure him" or "hurt his feelings"!!!).
I pondered all this for a moment, as people dashed around me to find an acceptably sentimental card for their own dear dads, decided that Father's Day should focus on happy, fluffy-type feelings, and bought a blue card instead.
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