Set no Trap....Take no Bait

I remember one time VerDell asked me, "So just how important is it for you to have the last word?" She does stuff like that, asks questions that just shut you up for a minute. But it got me to thinkin about bait and traps and how some folks just enjoy settin'um up.

It got me thinkin about my Daddy and how much he loved to argue...or debate as he used to like to call it. Only thing was, he knew exactly where he wanted to go with the "open discussion". He was a master and the path was filled with traps and "gotcha's" and dead ends. After he retired, he and my Uncle David would sit in the livin room and go at it all day, and bein it was our house, Uncle David would usually storm out and say sumthin like, "You're just full of it Jimmy," and Daddy would shake his head, flash a smile and say, "Wore him down again..but he'll be back for another round." As usual, he was right, and by lunch time, it would start all over again.

When Radcliffe's get together it's like that sometimes. Others look on like they're watchin' a tennis match and we're pretty much oblivious to their bewilderment...or discomfort. It's a strange head-strong family, we just do what we do cause it's what we did..keep three reason's ahead!

I'm not sayin it's right and it doesn't sound pleasant, but in a way, it was good family fun and Daddy always said, the minute you start cussin, everybody stops listenin' so callin somebody a stupid shit-head was an automatic default. Daddy wouldn't listen to cussin; and some days he wouldn't even listen to reason. But he loved it, sittin there in his big ole chair, usually with a cat on his lap and cigarette in his hand; Lord Know-It-All on his throne.

I just want you to know I say all this with a smile and a touch of nostalgia. I'm m not dissin' Daddy. Nope I could stand my own thanks to him and much to my Momma's dismay. Last thing in the world she ever wanted was another strong will to contend with but that's what she got in my brother and me.

But I digress, I'm thinking about all this because Daddy died fifteen years ago this week, on the hottest day on record. He'd do just that and say, "told you it was hotter'n Hades here".

I do miss him and thank him for teachin' me about not cussin' when I'm fussin, how to spot a bullshitter (I didn't say he wasn't colorful at other times) and how to reach down deep for stuff. There were times when his style served me well, but these days I'm learnin that, "Really?" is a good answer too. I'm conservin' energy and pickin my battles, cause some aren't worth the sport.

RIP Big Jim!