Comedy through the eyes of my son

One day this week, I had to take my car into the shop for a minor repair. On the way, I encountered by son Scott who was driving home from college a little before noon. So I dropped the car off and walked home. Shortly, my wife arrived as well and we decided to eat at Fried's, a family-owned cafe on the northwestern edge of town.

Fried's is known for it's home-made German food, which I don't particularly like...so dad and I each settled for a hamburger and chips.

As usual, I scarfed down my hamburger while dad took his sweet time eating his. Belinda and Scott, likewise, were still heading into their German dishes while my plate was empty.

So it seemed like a good idea to order a slice of pecan pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on it.

When it arrived, dad was still about halfway through his meal, so he surprised me when he said, "I want that also."

I asked the waitress, a lady about dad's age but twice as heavy, to also bring him a slice of pecan pie ala mode.

When it arrived, dad stabbed the ice cream with his fork and moved it to his plate. Then he proceeded to finish his meal and ice cream at the same time.

Scott is watching all of this and having a wonderfully good time of laughing, chortling and snickering as he gasped for breath. I, on the other hand, wondered what I'm supposed to do with the $2.75 piece of pie -- minus the ice cream.

"Dad, do you want the pie?"

"No, you can have it," was his reply...to which Scott begins a new round of laughter across the table.

Well, after you've just eaten a hamburger, pie and ice cream, there really isn't room for another piece of pie, especially one as rich as pecan.

Belinda asked for a take-home box. That night, she asked me if I was going to eat the pie sitting in her fridge. You know what? I was still full...of food and Scott's laughter.

But I warmed it up in the microwave, poured some milk (in place of ice cream) on it and devoured the pie.

Still, though, I'm haunted. Did dad really want only the ice cream and he thought the pie was part of the plate? Or did he suddenly realize he was only hungry enough for the ice cream and not the pie?

Nevermind, I guess...the story resolved itself and Scott was entertained once again as he watched his grandfather and father interact over a meal and dessert.