A Conversation With My Dad

Me: I have a blog!
Dad: Why?
Me: To get my writing out there into the world. My thoughts and stuff.
Dad: For everyone to see?
Me: Yes! I have followers.
Dad: No Haley. Those are stalkers.
Me: But I know them.
Dad: Then call them on the phone and tell them these stories.
Me: Well, I know most of them.
Dad: I don’t understand this need to blog. About what?
Me: I don’t know. Things…
Dad: You aren’t blogging about me are you?
Me: Yes Dad. I posted your Social Security number.
Dad: (rolls eyes)
Me: So far I like it. Here – read.

He sloooowly puts on his glasses all the while giving me comically skeptical looks, sloooowly raises the computer onto his lap and proceeds to take forever to read through my few entries every so often glancing over at me and shaking his head. When he’s done he gives me that look again.

Me: Well?
Dad: Is it gonna get more interesting?
Me: What? I just started!!
Dad: Well. Are you gonna just tell these fluff stories?
Me: It’s not like a political blog or a platform to display groundbreaking
commentary on things. Its just stuff. The stories will get better.
Dad: Let’s hope.

Now all this banter is happening while I am trying to look shocked and he is trying not to laugh. So I put on my best shocked/hurt face and he just shrugs and gives me a look like “Well?” We do this type of routine quite a bit actually.

My dad is not a computer, or for that matter, technology lover. When something goes awry with one of my many devices he says things like “Doesn’t technology just make our lives so much easier?” Uh…yeah…it does. Anyway, to him, the idea of having a blog is weird. The idea of having a blog for no set purpose other than to share my thoughts, etc is even weirder. It’s like welcoming strangers into my life and in my dads words “Strangers are creepy.” Seriously – he says that. I still ask him almost every day if he’s read my blog and he shakes his head, laughs and says no. My mom reads it though (Hi Mom!) and I know she tells him about the entries. I also tell him about them and he laughs and enjoys it. For a moment. Then he remembers it’s a blog that "strangers" are reading and his brow furrows, he gets that comically skeptical look and he just shakes his head.