Saturday 9

Saturday 9: The Men in My Little Girl's Life (1965)

 

 Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here. Chosen for Father's Day.

1) In this song, a father shares the story of his daughter's life through first the boys, then the men, she brought home. The first is Rod, a little kid who wants to play in the backyard. Who were your playmates when you were young? Did you find it more fun to have them over to your home, or to go to theirs? I preferred going to their homes because I was curious about how other families lived. Example: Mail. My oldest friend lived in the apartment building across the alley and I enjoyed it when we went all the way downstairs and outside and then used a key to unlock their unit's mailbox. My other favorite playmate's family had a really cool mailbox on their front door frame and the mail slid directly onto their living room carpet! Our mail was shoved through a slot in our screen door. Our front door was so thick that I never even heard it. Ah, the stuff that fascinated Little Me!

2) Then his daughter asked if Lee could carry her books on the walk to/from school. During your junior high years, how did you travel to school (bus, bicycle, car pool, shoe leather)? We walked to school. It was only a couple blocks away and took about 10 minutes if I wasn't distracted. My older sister was a year ahead of me and policed me. She was a drag.

 

3) Throughout this song, the father recalls that his daughter alternately called him "Daddy," "Dad," "Popsie," "Pop" and "Father." How did/do you address your father? Dad.

 

4) The song ends with the daughter asking her father to babysit. When did you last look after someone else's child? About 20 years ago. My nephew was still very young (like 5 or 6) and heard me say I didn't put my Christmas tree up because it was too much of a hassle. He offered to help and I was so touched by his eager little face that we had a sleepover and made a night of assembling my tree and trimming it.

 

5) This record was a Top 10 hit in the US and it made the Top 20 in Canada. Much of its success was attributed to Mike Douglas' TV popularity. From 1965 to 1981, he hosted a daytime talk show. Do you watch much daytime TV? I've got the news on most of the day. Shit moves fast these days and everything feels important.

 

6) Mike Douglas was a father himself. He had three daughters, including twins. Are there twins in your family? Nope.

 

Now about Father's Day ... 

 

7) Retail chains like O'Reilly Auto Parts, Auto Zone and Jiffy Lube are all promoting gift cards and car-related gifts for Father's Day. If you got a gift card from one of those stores, how would you upgrade your ride? I don't have a car. But if the gift card was from O'Reilly or Auto Zone, I'd use it to stock up on wipes. Really, you can get the most effective multi-surface wipes and glass cleaning wipes at auto stores. Jiffy Lube doesn't really have much of a retail section so I'd regift that one.

 

Trust me on this.

8) Dick's Sporting Goods also enjoys a spike in gift card sales around Father's Day. Have you more recently given or received a gift card? At Christmas, I sent my oldest friend a Domino's gift card. Because that's her favorite. (Don't ask me why. She grew up in Chicagoland and should know better.)

 

9) In days gone by, ties were the #1 Father's Day gift. But as today's workplace has become more casual, fragrance has taken over the top spot. Dove Men+Care offers gift sets with shampoo/conditioner, body wash and antiperspirant. Think about your shower routine. Are your shampoo, body wash and antiperspirant all the same brand or the same scent? Nope. Right now I've got lavender shampoo and mint conditioner. Oatmeal body wash. My deodorant is "powder fresh." All different brands.

 

 

 

  

Gratitude Challenge: Day 19

I first took this challenge in November 2014 and I think now is a good time to revisit it. Click here for a list of the Gratitude Challenge prompts.

Day 19: Something that fills me with love My cats. Fur brings out the best in me, I guess. I am at my kindest and my most patient with critters. The world is filled with people who annoy or anger me. I can't think of a dog or cat who has ever stirred anything but empathy and affection.

 

 

Oh, Gal, SHUT UP!

From the day I became verbal to the day he died, my dad knew how to press my buttons. (It must be said it was mutual.) One thing he did that especially set me off was to make self-evident comments as though they were proclamations. Example: Instead of telling me not to jump on the sofa, he would pedantically announce, "This is a living room, not a jungle gym." To this day, that brand of condescension brings out the worst in me and makes me want to respond as if I were the author of Mad's Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions. 

But now I'm nearly 70, not 7. I should have matured and moved past this. Yet I have not.

Tuesday I requested Christmas week off from the card shop. I thought I was being swell, giving the store manager more than six months to plan around me. Plus, it isn't even a full five days off. I am never available to work on Tuesdays and Christmas Day is Thursday and the store is closed, so we're really only talking three days: Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Also, it must be noted that I don't get paid for time off. It costs no one anything when I take myself off the calendar.

I was shocked when it came back on Wednesday "DENIED."  

I was certain it was a mistake and brought it up to my manager on Thursday. It was no mistake. She told me that her boss, Eric, has "blacked out" that week and told her she cannot approve any vacation time.

It took me a moment to absorb this. "But I will not be here that week. I will be in Michigan." 

I could tell she was parroting back exactly what Eric had said to her: "This is our busiest week and it's all hands on deck. No vacation requests are going to be approved. This is retail."

This is retail? Really? I thought we were hanging drywall.

This is retail? Really? I thought this was a Christmas Carol and I'm Bob Cratchit. 

I did not say any of this. But it was bubbling oh-so-close to my lips. Instead I said, "Well, I'm physically not going to be here that week, and now we know what to expect of each other." We left it at that.

What is likely to happen is that she won't schedule me. After all, we're talking about three days and many of the other girls want more hours, not less. If she does schedule me – and I hope she gives us enough notice – I'll just ask one of the others girls to take my shift. 

Or I will quit, and quit with a clear conscience. Because she knowingly scheduled me when she knew I was going to be away on Christmas with my family. 

At any rate, I'm glad I bit my tongue. She does not want to deal with this. I could tell her life would be easier if she could approve my time-off request. But this is her job and she's doing what she has to do to please her boss.

Sometimes, shutting up is the better part of valor. 

 

Photo by Fotos on Unsplash