Batlle of the Roll

My dad and I have a very tenious relationship. It ranges from very good to very bad, depending on things. Like apologizing. My father cannot apologize. It breaks him. (I also have a hard time apologizing, because it means I was wrong, and I HATE to be wrong, but I will swallow my pride if I have to.) So, rather than apologize for being wrong, or hurting someone's feelings (particularly his children), he gives presents. Growing up, when my Dad lost his temper and yelled, a few days later, we would get a present. It was never wrapped, or expressed that, "I'm sorry, I thought of you, I thought you might like this, let's never fight again", but we knew.

Specific Example: Two years ago, when I still played golf, I had an appointment with my swing coach in the city on a Saturday at 3:00pm. That Friday night was also this huge event on-campus, that culminated in a concert with Brian McComis performing. At the time, I was the lead reporter for the campus paper, so I got to interview him. It was awesome. I'd been telling my parents for weeks about it, fretting over questions and outfits and such. The concert started at 7:00pm. So, because of the time stuff, I was going to leave early on Saturday morning and meet Mom, Dad, Ty, and my coach.


At 6:30, my Dad called. "We decided to come up and stay the night int the city. Come meet us!" Dad, I can't. I've got to cover this story. "Well, your interview is before the show. Just leave from there." Dad, I have to cover the SHOW, not just the interview.

It ended up a screaming match. I stayed, and did the resposible thing, and met my parents the next day. Dad spent the whole day looking guilty, and before I left, he gave me a $50 bill. "Use that to get gas and buy nice dinner on the way home."


So, the point of this story? A while ago, Dad mentioned I had gained so much weight, he thought I was pregnant. Now that I've lost some weight, I was teasing him about how I look pregnant, because none of my clothes fit, and it looks like I'm wearing maternity pants. Hence, the 100 dollars a few days ago.

Still not sure if I'm mad at him for that.