Originally Posted By: ndfergy
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Now this is manly. No worries with greasy burger wrappers or oil stained jeans.
I was painting houses one summer in my college years and my dad let me take his '76 Nova to job sites. He didn't like the idea of me being a painter, was worried about me falling off a ladder and/or being beat up by a pro painter mad about losing business, so he was was pretty liberal about negative comments concerning my summer job. The Nova was an el cheapo model with really ugly red vinyl bench seats.
I came home one evening with a good dose of paint on my pants and shirt, and he lit into me about getting paint in his car. I was in a pretty awful mood because I had been attacked by wasps while on a roof that day (no stings), so we got into it a bit. Dad was swearing while trying to get a small spot of paint off the vinyl, and I just lost my temper.
"You really care about how those vinyl seats look? This car is a piece of (feces, but starting with a c)!!!"
My dad glared at me with a wild look in his eyes and I thought he might punch me in the face...I would have deserved it. Before he stormed into the house, he screamed
"Piece of c?!?!?! Go buy a better car with your painting money if you're too good for that car!!!"
I really felt bad about what I had said and spent a while cleaning up whatever paint was in the car. Dad was fine when I eventually went inside and we didn't talk our fight, but I wish to this day that I had apologized to him for what I had said. Not very cool to complain about a free loan, even that of a '76 Nova.
I was bigger than dad by then, but I'm sure he could have decked me...he had big hands and forearms. I'm sure he learned a few things about taking people down in basic training during WWII, also.