Movie of a Man Making The Bed

Michael Cain says:

I think I’m offended.

Before he went to college and got a sane job, my father was a brakeman/conductor for the railroad and a senior petty officer in the Navy. I grew up learning that you lived by the clock, made your bed, kept the house clean*, didn’t play unless all the critical work was done, were a competent if not fancy cook, and instilled those same basic values in those who reported to you (eg, seamen recruit and apprentice, and children).

* When my parents were living in Long Beach, and my father was a senior petty officer, he complained about having to discipline a group of sailors because their area wasn’t clean enough. My mother remarked that it couldn’t be that hard. Somehow this turned into a bet, that while Dad was on board ship for five days, Mom would clean their tiny apartment. Dad’s side of the bet was that he could smudge his white gloves in two of the first three places he checked. The first two he checked were the top of the molding on the inside of the coat closet door, and the back of the hot water supply pipe for the kitchen sink. When I heard this story from Mom, I really thought that she was going to curse, or spit, or both, unheard of reactions. When I heard it from Dad, it was a deep lesson about understanding relationships. Some of the lesson must have taken: Mom and Dad were married for 40+ years before he died, I’ve been married to Mrs. Cain for 38 years now, and my sister has been married to her husband for 33 years.Report