Bjcorbin's Blog

When she walked in front of the car, she wouldn’t even look at me; and when she got in, she shut the door harder than she meant to.  I knew she was frustrated that I’d made her change clothes, but her shorts were too short and her shirt was too tight.  I understood that she wasn’t trying to be provocative, and that compared to her peers she was downright modest; but a dad has to do what he has to do.  I wanted to explain it to her, but I realized that at the moment she wasn’t ready to have that conversation.  We’d driven a few blocks in awkward silence when I noticed that one of the neighbors had a bunch of their furniture in the driveway.  Given the fact that there was a carpet company truck parked along the street, I assumed they must be getting some new carpet; but my teenaged daughter said, “Hey look, they’re having a Garage Sale”.  After doing another quick scan, I said, “I don’t see any signs for a Garage Sale.”  But she insisted, “Why else would they have all their furniture in the driveway like that?”  I then pointed out the carpet truck, and shared my theory on what was happening; but then I added, “This is ultimately the reason you had to change clothes.”  With a confused look on her face, she said, “What?”  To which I replied, “When you put all of your stuff out on display like that, people just assume it’s for sale; even if you never said so.”  It was a very quiet ride after that.

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