{"id":418,"date":"2024-06-14T01:09:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-14T01:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/?p=418"},"modified":"2024-04-13T10:32:11","modified_gmt":"2024-04-13T10:32:11","slug":"jacks-laugh-out-loud-story-fifth-daily-dose-of-pleasures-being-a-father","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/?p=418","title":{"rendered":"Jack’s Laugh-Out-Loud Story [fifth daily dose of Pleasures Being a Father]"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

In Jack\u2019s case the humor was more intentional, but occasionally being shocked and surprised is another joy of parenting.  Ellen was a legislator like me.  (For how we met, read \u201cThird Time\u2019s The Charm.\u201d)  The legislative policy debates during much of Jack\u2019s pre-school years included paying for a light rail line and \u201cconcealed carry.\u201d  Ellen was a leader in fighting against the carrying of concealed guns in public.  During the debate on final passage, she evean snuck a prop on to the floor (against Senate Rules) and dropped this 20 lb. Oxford Dictionary on her desk with a loud Bang! while asking her colleagues:  \u201cHow many gun-toters would have reached for guns upon hearing an unexpected loud retort in a public place?  More guns means more danger for innocent bystanders, not greater safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Anderson (she kept her maiden name for many reasons) has always been really great and skillful at debating and it\u2019s a pleasure to watch her work.  She once debated an ex-professional wrestler turned radio talk show host and later Governor of the State on his radio show about her bill forbidding males from running in the women-only marathon to raise money to fight breast cancer.<\/p>\n

The talk show host starts with \u201cMy wife wants me to ask you why you\u2019re sponsoring such silly legislation when there are so many more important things to be working-on, like crime, welfare and taxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without skipping a beat El gives him an answer which brought silence to the airwaves (a cardinal sin for a talk show host).  She says to him:  \u201cYou know, I called your station several times to talk about crime, welfare and taxes, but no one ever called back.\u201d  After a long, embarrassing (for him) silence, he sputters something along the lines of \u201cyou can\u2019t blame the media\u201d for what gets reported!<\/p>\n

\"Where<\/a>

Where did Jack learn to give a good speech?<\/p><\/div>\n

At any rate, Jack was fond of going to political events at a young age, and telling everyone \u201cWe need more trains in Minnesota, less guns and more merry-go-rounds.\u201d  When he was six, Ellen and the neighbors had a community celebration because the City Council had just denied a permit for a gun shop in the neighborhood.  Sure what Jack would say, El hands him the microphone and asks if he\u2019d like to say something.  In a sort of had-to-have-been-at-his-prior-speeches way, he said \u201cWe need more trains in Minnesota . . . and we need more guns!\u201d  Ellen had to add the context, the humorous intention, and shock turned to laughter.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  In Jack\u2019s case the humor was more intentional, but occasionally being shocked and surprised is another joy of parenting.  Ellen was a legislator like me.  (For how we met, read \u201cThird Time\u2019s The Charm.\u201d)  The legislative policy debates during … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=418"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1881,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418\/revisions\/1881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}