Let me start by saying my Dad doesn't eat the pork. He gets the same thing everywhere we go...chicken Caesar salad. Steakhouse, Irish Pub, chain, pasta restaurant, fast food joint....chicken Caesar salad. And he likes to crunch his croutons as loudly as possible just to tease us.
Now, if you're wondering why and how I chose this (because you already KNOW I enjoy the Thursday night pork special) it's because we never had it AT THE DINER. My Mom was the pork sammy loaded with gravy fanatic. If I needed a break from cooking and it was a Thursday I could lure her in with the promise of sticky white bread smothered in shredded pork roast and drowned in tan sludge. My Dad would run and get it. She wasn't able to go out the way she had grown so accustomed and it made her sad quite often. So styrofoam was unloaded and we made it work.
So on this particular Thursday we headed right to the source. A funny little diner with an always interesting crowd. Pop got his salad. Pop crunched his croutons. After a few minutes he hiccuped (I refuse to spell it the other way). That got me to smile. They are rare...only come in 3s and are hysterical to me. The second one got the giggles going. By the third and a few of his head shakes...I was off and crying. Tears streaming down my face....NOW ALL THINGS WERE FUNNY. The lady's hair, the burp from the guy at the next table...you name it. I went with it though because I honestly could NOT remember the last time I laughed like that. It was a daily occurrence in my old life. My friends and family had grown quite familiar with the teary eyed laughing fits. I've often said, "Life just amuses me so". I think it was some sort of release for me. I have been walking busily through my days distracted not to succumb to the flood that might just occur if I should give in to the feeling of needing to cry. These tears were from laughter but I couldn't help but wonder if a few sad ones found it as an escape route as well. I was laughing alone which doesn't bother me. I did have flashbacks though of the hundreds of giggle fits I had with my parents...didn't matter the age. We found things fun and funny and celebrated them with laughter. I could have sold tickets to the annual Pop laugh out...it was quite the sight to behold. Ironically, as I sit here typing about laughter the tears have found their freedom. I can't end this on a sad note...not my style...so here comes the best giggle story of them all and it has nothing to do with pork.
I was about 10 or so. Mom had one of her zillion doctor appointments for one of her gajillion illnesses. We headed to the city to find some odd building with a specialist. The waiting room was stark and white and silent. No magazines, no television, no nothing. Just a few chairs and an odd folding table and two curly haired goobers. We sat there for a bit quietly. I looked at the tall buildings through the window and listened to the church bells from across the way. Insert clock tick tock noises here. My Dad pulled out a pen and started to fiddle with his finger. My Dad's hands are huge so I couldn't help but wonder what in the world he was doing. Putting his 4 fingers down and his middle finger, complete with smiley face UP....he began walking his "creature" around the table. He made odd grunting noises and made it dance and flip over and all sorts of other goofy things. Well....I still laugh when I think of it so I'm cracking up now. This went on till I could no longer breathe and incited one of his own rare laughing fits. We were loud. My mother from somewhere far down some hallway yelled, "Would you two knock it off!!!" which only made us giggle harder. For years that was his thing. "Do the dinosaur!!!" we would beg. Yet another lesson from the wonderful parents I was blessed with. Maybe it's why I don't believe in getting bored or letting time slip by. In any circumstance they made things interesting. Sometimes all it took was a cheap bic and a little imagination. Now, go draw 3 dots and a curve on your middle finger and make a kid (or adult) somewhere laugh. Don't forget the sound effects and dancing.
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