Let 'Em Know You're On the Way

Tuesday night my Lovely Bride, her Mother and I went to Mt Horeb to meet one of the Young Sons for supper at The Grumpy Troll. The meal was good, the beer tasty, the conversation just what we needed and a fine 90 minutes passed too quickly.

We left the restaurant by 8:30 and, since it was still early, I called to see if we could drop in on Young Son N, Young Son J and his beautiful wife. I called on the cell from the car.

ME: Whatcha doin'?
YSJ: Not much. We're still unpacking from the trip.
ME: Can we stop over for a few minutes? LB wants to see the granddog.
YSJ: (Unprintable!)

Okay. I know how he felt. He and his wife had just got back from a four day trip and were still unpacking. I was three minutes away with his stepmom and her mother and he didn't want to leave a bad impression. There was absolutely no time to clean up.
Oh, and the granddog thing? A blatant lie. LB wanted to see the kids. I'm the one who calls Wilson our GD.
In the end I made a deal. we'd stop to say, "Hi," but we'd stay in the yard. We could collect hugs (the kids) and scratches behind the ear (me and Wilson) and they didn't have to let anyone see their unwashed scanties.
We had a nice visit, made plans for the weekend (It's father's Day. Buy a card now.), and a fine time was had by all.

I just couldn't help thinking about a similar call last week and how the recipient must have felt. Please indulge me while I share my take on the phone conversation between GWB and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

GWB: Hi. Nuri? Yeah, good, um, look I'm at the airport and wonder if I could swing by for a few minutes.

Yeah, um. George...no, George Bush. Leader of the World's Last Superpower, Defender Of the Faith. All that, yeah.

No. No. Just a few dozen of us. We're getting in the helicopters now and we'll be there in five or so. Yeah, yeah. I know you're not expecting company. We won't stay long. Just gonna take a few pictures, maybe pat you on the back, you know, give you an attaboy and a little boost. We'll be gone before you know it.

What? No, no. That's just a figure of speech, Nuri. The rest of them are going to stay. My guys will be gone but the troops are staying. Yeah, okay, great. See you soon.

Nuri al-Maliki: (Unprintable.)