Mijn Vader

There have been so many days when I wonder about my dad. He tells me simple things that I already know and I would often reply, "Yeah, thanks dad." I really don't like it when he tells me something I already know. On the other hand, these things can only be further ingrained into my "wealth" of knowledge that my parents mock me for. There are times when he tells me things that just don't make sense. He'll explain things for me, but since I learn through tactile means the best, I often don't understand what he's trying to say. Today was a different day.
I woke up to my dad telling off one of my little brothers having complained about their chores. I was so confused (as are all of us upon the opening of our eyes from a gorgeous sleep). After I got out of bed and headed upstairs, I found that dad was making one of Bill Fitz-Maurice's killer Omni 10.5 speakers. A lot of what dad tells me goes over my head, especially sound stuff which is ironic for being a guitarist that loves electronics and quality sounding 'sound makers'. Dad has been the sound tech for church, youth group, and some other things, and is always searching for a good sound. When he told me that he was going build some speakers, I was shocked. I didn't take my dad to be a builder, and to be honest, I thought the end product was going to be kind of shoddy. It turns out that I ridiculously underestimated what my dad could do. When my dad played through this new cab at church, not only was I blown away by the quality of build, but also the quality of sound. I have to say that that moment made me extremely proud of him.
Today I did relatively(!) a lot of cleaning up in the house because mom was gone and dad was working on one of his Omni 10.5's, and consequently the siblings needed some direction. After time, we ended up having supper. Randomly, Dad's cellphone rang while at the supper table. It was random because this was dad's service call cellphone from work, which implied that he had to do a service call on Christmas Eve. Immediately, and almost without thinking, I asked dad if I could tag along. As I mentioned before, I certainly learn through a hands-on perspective the best, and if I passed this opportunity up, I would again be short-sticked in the learning opportunity. So dad and I left for work.
Dad is a truck mechanic, which is not to be confused with a trucker. Dad fixes the trucks for the truckers to get back on the road and make the time slot. I found out today that he learned way more outside of his apprenticeship, which was years ago. Prior to that, I should note (although not to demean him) that he did not complete high school and receive his high school diploma. Dad sometimes comes off as not too bright. But on this night, I found out that he is an incredibly bright bulb. What seemed to be an easy problem to fix, Ron the Trucker's head light lamp needed replacement. However, the problem wasn't that the lamp needed replacement, it was the wiring from the dash inside the cab to the headlamp itself. The problem could not be found, and so dad contrived a solution. Instead of trying to re-wire the original wire, he jumped the signal from the left head lamp to the right head lamp. Some of you might not realize the importance of this. Even though this may seem like a simple solution, I stood alongside watching and realizing how smart my dad was. He knows how sound equipment works. He knows the ins and outs of a truck. Regular people have no clue as to how to fix a truck!
It's so sad that the elite of the social stratosphere are those with white collar jobs - the people that receive all that money for making their lips move and using their voice boxes. I can't stand it how often overlooked people such as truck mechanics are. My point of all this? My dad appears to be a regular joe. He's certainly not a rocket scientist. But his knowledge is incredibly important. He fixes the trucks that bring all types of gases and several other important commodities throughout North America. Without him, these trucks wouldn't get where they're supposed to get, and the recipient of these products is left without what they need in order for the economy to keep running. In essence, his knowledge literally keeps the economy moving. Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating economics. I'm trying to say that his knowledge is incredibly important. I don't care what people say. These people just really don't know...their heads aren't screwed on right. They say that he's not important because he doesn't have a white collar job. But my dad is so important. In fact, my dad is a brilliant GENIUS and I love him for that. From now on I will never discredit any person that is a mechanic, an electrician, a plumber, a landscaper. My dad RULES.