Day 4
Today brought a difficult experience. A couple days ago, I was traumatized to learn that my tire had stripped bolts and loose lug nuts which caused the tire to almost completely detach from the car.
Well today, my amazing daddy (he’s 88 years old and still rocking and rolling lol) did what all great dads do, he showed up with 2 new rims, tires, bolts and lug nuts.
While I am truly grateful to still have him and that he’s still protecting and providing, I was angry with him earlier today.
Early this morning, I took my dad with me to a small business tire shop near my home. Well, the employees there were rude and dismissive so I decided to leave since I absolutely refuse to beg a company to accept my business. If I’m unwelcome then so is my money. Just as I told my daddy, that place is not the only tire shop in town.
So, my daddy became upset with….. ME! Can you believe it?! Here I am, defending my father’s honor and integrity as a man. I pointed out that he is NOT forced to give his hard earned money to people that have no respect for him as an individual. My daddy turned to me and said:
“Gin, you can’t have that attitude forever. That’s just the way the world works.”
I instantly became sad. I was reminded that my daddy was born in 1934. The decades and societal atmospheres that he’s lived through are what I watch movies and read books to learn about but will never fully understand or experience. I also realized that he’s lived through so much of that for so long that he’s institutionalized about it. It saddened me that his overall view is so pessimistic.
He’s my hero. He’s the man that raised me and taught me so much! While I may feel a way about his outlook, his image is not tarnished in my eyes. I’m just grateful that he didn’t push his outlook onto me and allowed me to embrace my own thoughts and perspectives as I grew up. So while he may not handle certain situations to my liking, I also realize that’s why he has me! He’s fought many battles for me growing up and now that he’s reached his golden years, I can fight for him.