my dad at dinnertime

Dad Capewell and I circa october 2008 in my sister's Pittsburgh kitchen

me: I’m scared that after college, I’ll just do boring things and hate my life.

tom: Jill…welcome to my life.

dad: Life after college is lousy.

anne: Rich!  Don’t say that!

dad: …real lousy.

Maybe this exchange is only funny to me or in real time, hearing my dad’s gravelly NYC accent and seeing the weirdly serious look on his face as he shovels gravy-soaked corn and roast beef into his mouth, knowing he only went to college for about six weeks before dropping out and joining the union (I say this without judgment- college is not for everyone and if the idea of fixing cars, cutting hair, building houses, etc etc etc makes you more excited to wake up in the morning than writing papers and feeling uncertain about your future, then more power to you.  After a summer as a faux-lectrician, I briefly imagined my future as a tradeswoman.  I’m not ready to go in that direction now or ever, possibly, but anyway, I digress).

During this hilarious dinner, the fact that me and my siblings made my dad watch a few episodes of Jersey Shore around Christmastime was brought up, and my dad said something to the effect of, “Yeah, I’m a real -MTV-super-deluxe TV guy,” which also is less funny on a computer screen.  He also suggested flipping over the CD we were listening to several times even after being told you couldn’t flip CDs over, and then suggesting we play “Johnny Yuma and the Johnnys,” a musical group that does not exist.

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