The Old Man

After a long day's Easter celebration, it felt good to get home. The weather wasn't that great all day so it was a little chilly in the house. So I wrapped myself in a quilt and curled up in my favorite chair waiting for The Sopranos to start. Jeff came downstairs wearing a red Wisconsin sweat shirt, some baggy gym shorts, and he still has his black dress socks on, along with his slippers. I told him he needed to change into some plaid shorts so he got the complete look of a 75-year-old man. Honestly, it looked so silly. He said, "I know but my feet are cold and it's kind of dumb to just change my socks." OK, so he has a point.

So we settled in to watch The Sopranos when there was a knock on the door. Bailee comes bounding down the stairs, with her usual air of insanity/hyperactivity. In comes the new boyfriend she was dying for us to meet. She was hoping we would meet him the day before, he was coming to pick her up because they had a date where he was going to make her dinner.

She met him at work. Since she makes little money in her crappy job, I make the assumption that anyone she hangs out with from work means little hope for a decent future. So I wasn't all that thrilled. Then she tells me that he is a supervisor of another department, and that she has known him for quite a while even though they don't directly work together. I'm feeling my spirits lift a little.
1. No real ethics issue because he is not her boss so that's good.
2. He is a boss so he probably has some brains and makes more money.
Then she tells me how he is so nice to her and that she never had someone treat her like this. She is happy. This is getting a little more promising because her last boyfriend was a crackhead. That's not sarcasm, he was really a crackhead whose best quality was that he eventually stopped taking money from her. Not that she had much to give in the first place, so he was not helping her situation.

His qualities were pretty good so far, when she came home from her date she had a dozen roses with her. She said no one ever bought her flowers before. He asked her to go with him to his mother's wedding in May. Apparently she is marrying the owner of the company they both work for. This just keeps getting better and better! Don't get me wrong, I don't believe that material things can make you happy but this child needs some stability in her life and to start hanging around with people who take responsibility seriously. These are all positive role models for my daughter unlike the losers she usually chooses to hang around with. For some reason she always chooses to side with the underdog, it's noble to think you can be a hero and help those less fortunate than yourself, but she needs to start taking care of herself first and get her own life together. She has no car, no savings, and a low-paying job with no future. She needs good health insurance since she is diabetic so her own issues should be addressed before she starts taking in the crackheads of the world.

Back to the new boyfriend at the door...

Bailee brings in this new guy and introduces him to us. His name is Adam and he is carrying some pistachio torte that his mother made. He hands it to Jeff and says, "Bailee says pistachio is your favorite and my mother made this so I brought you some." Jeff thanks him and says that he will be happy to try it as soon as his Easter dinner settles. For a moment I was suspicious, I am not fond of suck-up or those with ulterior motives. But after a little conversation with this guy, he was just what Bailee said he was, a nice guy.

As soon as they leave, I found myself laughing as I point out to Jeff, "I wonder what he thinks of us with you standing there with your 75-year-old man look." Jeff says, "We're both wearing Badger sweatshirts so it was all good." It was worth a laugh and as the two of them drove off, Jeff is peeking out the window and he comments to me, "He's driving a red Porsche!"