My Father, The Hero

Apparently, my dad is now trendy...

We have been passing out Green Guides to the visitors at work. In it, you can find tips for adults and children on simple ways to alter your life style to help save the environment. On the front cover it reads, "It's cool to be green!"

Here are some examples of the handy tips:

• Instead of turning on the heat, put on a sweater
• Borrow books from the library instead of buying new ones
• Don't drive when you could walk or ride your bike
• Clean your yard with rakes instead of a leaf blower
• Turn off lights when you leave a room
• Turn off the water while brushing your teeth
  
• Rather than turn on the AC, open a window

Seriously?! These are things my dad was fervent about throughout my childhood, not because he was particularly earth conscious, but because those were the cheaper options! He would follow us from room to room, turning off lights as we go (sometimes while we were still in the room). He had several motto's:

• Why buy a new movie, when you could rent 15 yr-old ones for free at the library?
• No reason to turn up the heat, here's a perfectly good robe (a hand-me down from my brothers no less).
• We don't need one of those fancy leaf blowers to get rid of pine needles... that's what our kids are for.
• Sure, this [electronic] looks broken, but let me tinker with it for a [month-year] and it will become partially fixed.

Not that he was negligent. We didn't want for anything (except maybe cable tv, and a less embarrassing car...), but somewhere in between my childhood and now, he went from stingy (although he prefers frugal), to trendy.

This is the guy who still owns his 30 year-old pair of madras pants*, the guy who always dug his cut-offs out of the trash every time mom threw them away, the guy who has been known to tuck his tee shirt into his sweat pants, and now he's on the cutting edge of trends?!?

Lord, save us all.

*sure, madras has made a come back lately, but consider how fashionable they were those 30 years in between