One-Upped By Dad

Hello, folks. I have no blog.

Yep, here it is Tuesday, Blog In Earnest Day in Betland, and I'm without a blog. It's been a bit of a bummy day, I've laundered coffee-stained shirts, played the clarinet, and watched a movie. All while I should have been thinking up a good blog idea. But I didn't, and now you'll have to pay for it.

So I thought I'd tell you a story that made me laugh. Hell, still makes me laugh. And I have a sneaking suspicion it might be one of those "you had to be there" stories, but I'll give it a go anyway.

It involves my dad, my mom, and me, sitting in my office on Friday. They'd come by (they're still up here) to stare at me a while before they got on with their day.

It also involves two women barbers, whose names I won't divulge, but in the spirit of southern women barbers we'll call them Lurlene and Qutene.

See, Dad had walked up the street to get a haircut. And was gone and gone, way longer than was necessary, which was fine with Mom because that gave her more time to stare at me, and I was starting to feel like something in a petri dish when Dad finally came back in, hair as short as a Marine's.

"There you are, " Mom said.

"Oh, I had to have my hair cut by Qutene, and she's so friggin' slow," my dad said. Yes, my dad actually said "friggin'."

Then things settled in, my dad leaning against the doorway to my office staring into space, my mom standing in front of my desk staring into space, and me there at my desk, staring into space.

My dad's voice calmed to its normal tone, and he went on to say, to no one in particular and anyone who might be listening, "There were a shopfull of people in there, and Qutene was the only one there cuttin' hair, because Lurlene had to go to off to a horse show...." Then his voice trailed off into the air.

Silence. Staring.

More silence. More staring.

"She won a blue ribbon," my dad finally offered.

And I lost it.

Mainly because in all that silence, I was trying to come up with the perfect line to end the story. There were a blue million ideas rumbling around, but none good enough to throw out. My dad came up with the winner.

Yep, it happens sometimes. One-upped by the old dadster.

Betland's Olympic Update:
* So, first of all, I've had the sad feeling all day long that this week's acrotopic was a repeat. Maybe I'm thinking of one Mike gave me, "Pets." But what is it about dogs, anyway?
- Honorable Mention goes to LilyG with her, "Sit! Rollover! Beg! Always responsive." Wow - Lily's had some good dogs. Mine never did that.
- Runner-up goes to Kellie with her, "Stays right by aging relative." Awwww, that makes me cry!
- And this week's winner is Mike, with his "Sometimes Rover bites a Republican." I can think of no better reason to own a dog. My dog Bill would have done that.
- Thanks to all who played! You've all done very well!