I saved this story for Father’s Day even though it happened a few months ago. The only background you need to know is that I don’t have any children. One day I was at the Fred Meyers grocery store checking out. Most of my order was already scanned and I was swiping my card into the payment system. There was nobody else behind me in line when the next customer pulled their cart into my lane.
The next customer was a frazzled mom with two children. The boy was probably 3 or 4 years old and the girl was maybe a year younger. What caught my eye immediately was how much these two kids looked like me and my younger sister when we were their age. The boy was full of energy and the girl appeared to be very tired. She was fighting to stay awake, but not for long.
Me and my sister as kids.
As the cashier handed me my receipt, the boy stopped talking and wiggling. I looked over at him and now he was making direct eye contact with me. He had a look on his face like he knew me, but couldn’t place my name. He smiled at me. Then in a moment I’ll never forget, he pointed at me and began chanting “Daddy, Daddy”. This woke up his sister. She joined him and starting yelling “Daddy”. Other customers were now turning their attention toward our aisle. I stuffed the receipt in my bag and before mom could control the situation, I grabbed my groceries and escaped the store.
Comments
Joe
June 18 at 2012 at 12:39 AM
Sweet story. Though the answer you could have given was likely “No, I don’t think so.” :-)
MAS
June 18 at 2012 at 4:01 AM
@Joe - Always leave your audience wanting more. ;)
Pauline
June 18 at 2012 at 3:00 PM
What a weird wonderful story! How did you feel afterwards?!
MAS
June 18 at 2012 at 5:20 PM
@Pauline - Well as their 15 second father, I was appalled at what their mother was feeding them. Bread, cereal, low-fat dairy and fruit juice. I really need to spend more time with them. :)
Glenn
June 19 at 2012 at 7:26 PM
Was the mother cute? Maybe this was your date with destiny…
MAS
June 19 at 2012 at 8:34 PM
@Glenn - Sadly the mother appeared to be eating the same crap she was feeding her kids.
thomas
June 19 at 2012 at 8:56 PM
You should have told the kid that you were his “real” father and then left.
MAS
June 19 at 2012 at 9:11 PM
@thomas - next time. ;)
Becca
June 21 at 2012 at 12:39 AM
haha, this story is awesome. i would have felt appalled at their dietary choices too… poor kids!
TigerAl
August 4 at 2012 at 6:28 PM
Have not read your blog for a while, MAS (FB impact :)).. anyway, this one was pretty funny! You probably do look like their dad and were staring at them so he probably picked up on it. You could adopt them and make them your living experiment in nutrition adjustment? :)
MAS
August 4 at 2012 at 6:42 PM
@TigerAl - It probably isn’t a wise idea to go around adopting strange children at Fred Meyers. ;)