Silly Shorts

To preface this story, I need to tell you something about my father. He worked in construction, was very intelligent, and very hard on cars - especially transmissions. At the time of this story, he was driving a very large car (a Chrysler Newport) with a faulty muffler and he had recently lost the reverse gear from the transmission.

In the early 80's, I had recently graduated high school and was working in a small factory. My younger sister was attending a local private school. My father would drop her, then me off every morning before he went to work. Since my sister had to be dropped off extra early, Dad and I would have extra time in the morning, which we generally used by stopping for coffee and conversation at a local restaurant in town.

One Monday morning, we pulled into an angled parking space in front of the restaurant. We had no more than come to a stop when my father muttered, "D@#% it!". I asked him what was wrong and he told me that he had forgotten that he had recently lost the reverse in the car. It took me about two seconds to sum up the situation in my mind - the weight of the car, the cold weather and the parking spaces that slanted down toward the sidewalk.

I took a deep breath and was about to offer to get out and help push the car back into the street when Dad spoke again, "Oh, the h*$# with it!". He put the car into gear, drove up over the curb, then across the sidewalk (right past the front of the restaurant) until we got beyond the line of parked cars so he could pull back out onto the street and stop.

I sat in stunned silence, not believing what just happened. My dad just turned to me and said, "You still want that coffee?"

Dad - I love you. I miss you. R.I.P.