Daddy Plays Guitar Pop talk with a stay at home dad

Children on the Job with On the Go Dad

Here's a quick one...

As you all know from my first post, my "money making" job consists of all things in the field of  animal transport. The main skill sets related to this are; drivers license, conceptions of time and distance, modest strength, the ability to use a phone, driving whilst breathing out the window in case of an unauthorized bathroom break by said animal, and most of all PATIENCE. The biggest headache in my line of work are nervous clients/animal owners, and slow cargo facilities ( which is where I pick up/drop off pets).

I learned pretty quickly that I would often have to take my daughter on some of these jobs, for better or worse. The first jobs I took her on were made more difficult due to the fact that she couldn't walk, so...imagine trying to lift up a 70lb bob cat while making sure your infant daughter isn't about to become a mid morning snack break. -(Note to child care services* this is a joke on many levels. A. I have never transported a bob cat. B. The majority of my jobs are in the evening so any meal would be considered dinner, possibly a late lunch.) The point is, that it is rather difficult handling the animals and my kid.  However, as time has passed, there was one silver lining which revealed itself, "daddy/ daughter favoritism"- from those with warm blood in their hearts.

A few "goo goo" words, and a crooked smile really makes even the most miserable people (airline cargo people appear to be near the top of the list) breakdown and smile. As a thank you to my daughter, these same people will move me to the front of the line,  and then they actually do their job. Man!! this is great, it saves me time and aggravation. In some circles I am known as " the guy with his cute daughter" And now, even if I don't have my kid with me I get the VIP treatment.

"Oh hi. Where is your daughter? She is so cute. Would you like a back rub and an iced tea?"

"She's with her grandparents. I miss her terribly. The quicker I'm finished here, the sooner I'll get to see her."

" Well, lets save the back rub for later and get you home."

-Again, this is exaggerated.

My little girl is now almost 26 months old, cute as a button, and  curious as can be. The bonus is that she can walk next to me, so that 70lb bob cat is less of a problem. She likes to interact with the cargo people and anyone else who will listen. Even the big scary truck drivers who  pick up manly cargo      (such as rebar and coal-I actually have no idea what's on all those pallets, but they always seem really angry) give my kid a smile as I cut them off on line.

Flashback to yesterday...standard pick up at residence and drop off at airport. Dog going JFK to SIN, (that's technical speak for New York to Singapore). Quick sidebar- game 3 of ALCS (baseball playoffs) was starting at 4:05 EST, so I really wanted to execute this job as quickly as possible and  listen to the game. Since I am pretty familiar with this particular cargo facility I felt pretty good about my chances of a fast drop off. In fact, one of my daughters' biggest fans is the manager so I wasn't worried at all.

So, I walk in with my daughter, the dog, and positive vibes, right into a ... long line? Manager meeting?? Frustrated staff not looking at my cute daughter!!? 20 minutes to game time???!!! Crap!!!

What to do? I know I'll step up my game a bit. So I picked up my daughter so the workers behind the glass could get a better look at her cuteness.- Nothing. Then, I began slowly spinning her in a circle hoping to get a big laugh out of her that will surely get the attention of the folks behind the glass.- Nothing.  Alright. Game plan #  2 time. I feigned a  bit of unhappiness for me and my daughter, "Its alright honey we'll go home soon, don't be sad." I flash some puppy dog eyes of my own and- nothing!!! DAMN!!!! It was at this moment my salvation had come, the end of the manager meeting, and  my friend who always asks about my daughter came out from the back. She says hello to me and sure enough I'm at the front of the line (stand aside, childless rabble) with 10 minutes till first pitch. I exchanged a few pleasantries and  felt good as I put my daughter down in order  to sign the last document. As my right hand was about to make the final stroke of my signature a horrible sound went off. WOOP WOOP WOOP WOOP!!!

My daughter pulled the fire alarm.

As she ran into my arms, no doubt terrified by the high pitched screaming, I knew that I was screwed.

You see, ever since 9/11 airline security, especially cargo shipments (even pets), is extremely tight. Well, I had to wait for the TSA people to come (Transportation Security Administration) and make sure everything was okay. Questions. Confusion. "No there is not an actual fire." blah, blah, blah...

After all was said and done I made it  to my car by the 3rd inning.  Thankfully no one was angry, in fact most were amused, something to the effect of,  "Now we won't have to test the alarm in a month." and the real kicker,  "Man she's cute."

I wonder if Nixon or Bernard Madoff had a little child with them all the time, would we have been so outraged?

Never underestimate the power of your child!!

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