My wonderful father drove me to Costco this evening to pick up my car and its four shiny new tires. He was in a hurry. Unfortunately when we entered the tire center there was no one there. I was getting settled in to wait, when suddenly Dad burst into song:
"A car! A car! We're here to get a car, we need a car!"
Imagine it sung in a fine tenor voice with operatic flair. It worked. The Costco guy showed up before Dad was half done, and he continued to serenade us as I sheepishly told the guy the make and model.
This reminds me of a time we four kids were children and Dad was taking the family to In-N-Out. We pulled up to the drive-through microphone and the guy asked, "May I help you?" And Dad, God bless him, chose to sing our order. "We would like six double-doubles, please grill the onions, no tomatoes..." he boomed out, while we kids ducked down and tried not to be seen. When Dad finished singing there was a pregnant pause. Then the In-N-Out employee gamely sang back to us! "Okay, so that's six double-doubles..." he began and went on from there. I give the man much credit for answering his crazy customer in kind. :)
Dad has a fine voice. It used to be a regular Sunday routine that whoever was in the church pew ahead of us would turn around and say, "You should join the choir!" When he retired he finally bowed to the pressure and joined.
4 comments:
I'm very hard, nearly impossible, to embarrass, but that would do it!
Still, gotta give your dad credit for not bowing to social norms and for just being himself. The world would be a boring place if we all had to act "normal" all the time. :)
That story about the In-N-Out employee cracks me up every time. I wonder if he tells the story too!
"The world would be a boring place if we all had to act 'normal all the time"
This is true. In fact a friend of mine has a husband who'll break out into old songs at the drop of a hat, and I find it interesting and endearing.
I don't think Dad even remembers the In-N-Out episode; I'd remind him but then he'd be tempted to repeat it. :)
I meant that I wonder if the In-N-Out employee tells the tale.
"So there I was, manning the drive-thru, when this guy pulls up and..."
My Dad used to sing different things all the time, except he didn't have a nice voice. Fortunately, he only seemed to do it when it was just the family.
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