My dad, the fourth of his name, started with a degree in physics and ended his career as a cathodic protection specialist. Who is your daddy and what does he do? Happy Father's Day to all you idiots who managed to procreate, as well as the men who stepped into that role. I know of at least one idiot here who stepped up for a kid they didn't create. I hope all your kids find you to be a positive influence in their life. Let's share our favorite dad themes stories. Y'all be good!
My dad was some higher level of Engineer at IBM, like one or two levels below Fellow. He can barely figure out how to work his Apple TV. It's weird.
My dad was awesome. He's probably the kindest human I've ever known. He could do complex surgery, but couldn't understand how to set the clock on the VCR.
My dad was an alcoholic. In the truest sense of the word. Couldn't hold down jobs, ruined relationships, somehow only managed to get one DUI and drank himself to death at 54. When on his deathbed, we asked if there's anything he wanted to tell us. "I fucked a lot a chicks" Verbatim. Sort of related but I just got into Black Mirror. Season 2 Ep 1 is about using AI to "talk" to people that have passed. The episode is 10 years old(!) so some stuff is outdated but I see that being a market. You load all emails, texts, social media posts, recording, voicemails etc, AI fills in the rest and you could "talk" to a past relative. As much as he was a terrible father, I'd love to have a conversation with him just to hear his voice.
My dad was a lab tech at GE. An avowed atheist and big Star Trek fan. As a kid I remember once saying with wonder to him how amazing I thought it was that birds evolved to fly. He said in kind of a buzzkill way, “Yeah but humans put a man on the moon and birds don’t have anything on that.” Was kind of a humanist. Few of his lame dad things I miss is how he’d read or see things on TV and run out and buy them, Biorre strips or Vitamin E pills because he heard it prevented cancer (in his case it didn’t). He also signed us all up for the 12 CDs for a penny and then made mix tapes from top forty albums and Now That’s What I Call Music! CDs. He was an amateur photographer as a kid and had a concert hook up and had front row seats to some absolute legends Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix and the like. I once asked him why he made Britney Spears and Jlo mix tapes instead of these great artists he’d seen. He just said “ehh I’ve heard that crap a thousand times and want to hear what is new.”
My earliest memory of someone really teaching me something was my dad teaching me how to skip rocks on a lake. I feel like all my childhood memories of my dad are very peaceful - canoeing, biking, fishing. We used to get up before the sunrise, make PB&J or fluffer nutter sandwiches, and take the canoe (or kayaks once I was big enough to handle one) out and watch the mist burn off the water as the sun came up. He also taught me a lot - he was always working on stuff around the house, or fixing broken things. To this day I have a mentality that I can build or fix anything with enough patience, because it always seemed like we could figure it out if we needed to. We worked on some cool science projects, too, and he was always really good at leading me to answers without taking over. It's harder to find time to see him these days - he doesn't live anywhere near me and he isn't good at prioritizing visits. But he's a good guy and a good dad.
My dad was a printer, a huge sports fan and a great dad. He died almost 20 years ago of cancer. We had a fantastic relationship. He was a fun guy who always let you know he cared. Some of my best memories are of times I was with him fishing, at a ballgame, or playing catch in the backyard. I like to think I’ve followed in his footsteps in that my daughter and I are very close and have always done a ton of things together. I took her camping and to ballgames when she was still in diapers and we still spend alot of time together. Dad wasn’t a perfect man but he taught me how to have a good relationship with your kids.
My biological father is an abusive piece of shit. That whole "if you could kill one person and get away with it" game? Easy answer for me. My step father, on the other hand, is fucking awesome. He was certainly a bit harder on us as kids than maybe was appropriate, but he also put up with my incessant questions about how shit works, so it's a fair trade imo. He's the reason I get to call people for repairs or remodeling out of luxury now rather than necessity. He's excellent with my boys and love my wife as if she belonged to him. Can't really ask for more. Anyone can be a dad. It's way too easy unfortunately. It takes a real man to be a father though. My boys -- 9 and almost 6 -- are starting to ask questions about my "real dad" because they've always thought I came from my step-father. So, that's how I explain it to them. Your father is the one who raised you, who taught you what you know and who you try to emulate in a good way. The way I parent is a blend of the good things from my mother with some of the teaching ways of my step-father. I'm curious how father's days will be celebrated in the future with the increased in designer DNA shit.
My dad was a farmer. He didn't really want to be one; the career was kind of forced onto him by his father (also a farmer, but really more of a business man). We didn't always get along, but he was a great man, and I've never met anyone who had a harsh word to say about him. I'm really glad that he was a blue-collar guy who did things for himself. I sometimes wonder how different I'd be if my mom had married a lawyer/ accountant/ white-collar drone.
My biological father was a pretty good guy, it wasn't his fault he wasn't in my life until I was older. Mom made that decision. He was a mayor in Georgia, owned several businesses. I met my sister when I was 16. He didn't tell my brother about me until he was having a very close call with death, when we were both almost 40. Brother was pissed, mainly because he didn't tell him about me, but also that he had cheated on his mother. I didn't hold anything against him, because I didn't know him and had a great stepdad, so I didn't miss out on anything in my childhood. I still call my stepdad Dad, and actually talk to him more than I do my mom. When I was coming of age, stepdad was partners in a civil engineering and land surveying company. I followed in his footsteps and did that up until about 2007, when drugs and partying got a little out of hand and I lost that job. Stepdad had gotten out of that business already and moved away with a new wife. Now he's a top guy in a construction company doing work all over Virginia and Tennessee and still with that second wife.
It is interesting to see how some of you describe your father's influence and compare it to your voice here that you write with.
Dad was a reservist, and coal mine mechanic until the mine he worked at shut down due to a fire in the early 90s. He then used his GI Bill and union benefits to go to college to become a registered nurse. He then worked for the state health department until he retired. I didn't have kids until I was in my 40s & my dad passed from cancer 19 days after my oldest was born. He never got to hold his grandson, just got to see some photos. The lessons I learned from my dad were work hard smartly, don't quit, and family may drive you nuts, but with few exceptions, be there for them. Also, family doesn't always mean blood. If asked if he could do it over again, he said he instead would've went down the road to a nearby mine and kept mining. He liked the work as a nurse, but between struggling to find a job after graduation due to changes in healthcare in the mid 90s, and the office politics, he preferred the mine. Dad's the one taking a knee
My dad worked with my mom’s brother’s fairly successful weatherproofing business (successful because of my grandfather) until my uncle revealed himself to be the sleaziest, most back-stabbing toupee-wearing piece of shit in southwestern Ontario. After starting from scratch, he brilliantly went back to school in 1988 to take IT… right before the tech boom exploded. Since then he’s been a globetrotting troubleshooter for companies, doing the software equivalent of putting square pegs into round holes. He played a major part in designing much of the drive-thru screen software for fast food companies in the 90’s. He’s one of those “Linux Guys” that can build a computer out of any electronic parts you dump on a table. He’s also a gifted oil painter, specializing in seascapes. I’m great at drawing but he’s a master.
I miss my dad. He did a lot of things... pilot, aircraft maintenance engineer, real estate broker, etc, but he was a great dad. Always supported me in everything I did. This weekend is a special weekend for me, as one of my favourite memories was when I had a chance to share with him one of my interests, when we went to the F1 race in Montreal one year. He never liked racing, but experiencing it first hand, he was an immediate fan. With the race going on this weekend, I can't help but remember us enjoying the time at the track and the 5 days we spent in Montreal having a blast together.
I know the Reddit convo was in the other WDT, but one of my friends is a moderator on r/Pics. They had some fun. https://www.businessinsider.com/red...ing-by-posting-sexy-john-oliver-photos-2023-6