There's an episode in the Power Puff Girls series that I remember watching once when I was a kid. I don't recall too much about it but I remember the episode beginning with a man talking to a classroom of kindergartners about his profession. I can't remember what he did for a living, but I remember wondering when my elementary school would have a "bring your father to school day" kind of thing.
Then I began to wonder what my father actually did for a living.
It's a Monday and today dad is a Carpenter. He has been creating a crib for my godfather's new baby. He tells me that it's very important to make sure the crib is well made and it's best for him to make one than to have my godfather buy one. Dad is in his workshop for most of the day and finishes it in a few hours. I sneak in at night to see it. I pick up a hammer thinking that I am also a carpenter and managed to break off one of the legs. When dad finds it, he doesn't get mad, he only laughs and proceeds to show me how to fix it.
Tuesday. Today my dad is a Doctor. My brother has a pain in his ear and has been crying for quite sometime now. We don't really know what to do and don't necessarily have the money to go to the doctor. Dad gets his car key and swipes it in my brother's ear and miraculously makes the pain stop. My brother stops crying and we play video games for the rest of the day. Just last week when I had a cold, dad told me to take a cold shower and sleep. When I woke, I showed no symptoms of that sickness. I don't understand his remedies, but they work.
On Wednesday, dad is a Mechanic. He has someone's Jeep parked on the side of our home. He comes into the house with his hands and clothes dirty with oil and tells my brother and I to come outside with him. He is trying to show us how to fix something in the car that I wasn't interested in learning as I was too busy daydreaming to pay attention to. Dad hands me a wrench and tells me to do what he just did. I tell him I don't remember what he did. He gets angry with me and tell my brother to do it. I go back inside to do my math homework and I wonder if dad would know how to do the math problem I was having trouble with. I don't ask, so I don't do my homework.
It's a Thursday and today dad is a Butcher. I wake up to the head of a cow that has just been butchered on the kitchen sink. I feel gross and wonder what on earth it is doing there. Dad comes into the kitchen with a knife and hands it to me. He's asking me to cut off meat from the head in order to make barbacoa for later. I can barely hold the knife straight. I tell him I feel bad and can't stand the sight of the cow's eye looking back at me. He tells me to get out of the kitchen if I am just going to be whining and in the way. I leave feeling like a disappointment and I don't eat the meat for dinner.
Friday. Dad is going out tonight. He's dressed up in a nice dress shirt and is using some cologne that he doesn't use around the house. I ask dad where he is going and he says that he's just "going around." He never dresses up like that when he takes us out. As a matter a fact, I can't remember the last time we went out as a family other than the times we visit grandma. I realize now that he is an entrepreneur and he makes his job whatever he wants it to be. I wake in the middle of the night because of my dad's shouting. He is screaming into his cellphone with another man. I don't know about what but I think it may be about his business as an entrepreneur. I hear the unmistakable sound of a gun being loaded. Dad is furious and is daring the man to come to our home. I place my head under the pillow to mute out the sound and I don't know if mom or my siblings are awake and I begin to wonder if the sounds of my father's yelling are the reason why I'm a light sleeper.
In the weekends, Dad is a guidance counselor. He tells me and my brother not to follow in his footsteps. He tells us to pay attention in school and to stay away from beer and drugs. Every step he makes, he ensures to erase the footprint behind him. He made the perfect example of what not to be and despite feeling awful for saying it, I feel thankful.
