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CHAPTER EIGHT – Young Adult Years
A’s Baseball Game: I used to take off on Friday afternoon and go down to Oakland and watch an Oakland Athletics baseball game. It would be me and my boys and my boys’ friends. We would arrive at the back of the ballpark and go sit in the bleachers out in center field. There was always a little action in the bleachers to watch if the game got boring. One time, Shannon, my daughter, and her girlfriend (forget the girlfriend’s name) wanted to go. After much pleading, I agreed. We got to the bleachers, and we were all set up to watch the game. At some point during the game, a fight broke out between a couple of drunks in the bleachers. Quite entertaining, actually. Security had it controlled in no time.
We got home and the girls were just excited to tell of their experience. (The boys knew better than to talk about stuff…you know…that Las Vegas thing: What happens at the ballpark stays at the ballpark.) Well, the girls did not know the rules, probably would have made no difference if they had. They told everyone, including Shannon told her mother…then I caught HEXX from her mother for putting the girls into a dangerous situation. It was not dangerous, just entertaining, but I was reprimanded anyway. Lesson: When you are allowing girls to participate in guy fun…educate the girls about the rules (and then hope they keep them).
Another A’s Ball Game: We were on the way home after an Oakland Athletics ball game. As I recall, it was me (Dad), Eric, Mike, Russ, and a friend Blane. Eric (oldest son, age 16 or 17, I forget) was driving. We ran out of gas about 5 miles from a gas station. I had warned the driver the gas gauge was not spot on and that we should stop for gas, but Eric kept saying it was OK. When we ran out of gas, the boys looked at me like, when are you going for gas? Not me! The rule always was that if the vehicle ran out of gas, the driver walked. Eric was driving.
Since we were not carrying a gas can in the vehicle, there was a discussion about how they were supposed to bring the gas back. I told the boys they could figure that out on their own. Not my problem. I was not driving. So, Eric started out walking with Mike and Blane. I think Russ decided he did not want to walk. Gas was obtained…maybe a lesson learned…and we went home. Apparently, the gas station man was tickled at the plight of the boys walking, so he loaned them a gas can. (That was back in the days when you could trust people.) We returned the can, of course. Lesson: Listen to your father. He may know something you do not.