I've heard that every man, at some point in his life, has the incredibly distinct moment when he realizes that he has become, or is at least well on his way to becoming, his father.
For me, that moment might be today. The truck that Sal and I were assigned has a water cooler on the back. The stow rack for the cooler was mounted in such a way that when you pressed the tap for water, it poured right onto the truck. It was impossible to get your cup underneath it. So this morning, while I was standing around with nothing to do for hours, I decided to fix it. A quick examination revealed that it had simply been mounted incorrectly. I needed to unscrew all four bolts, turn the entire mount 90 degrees, and then reattach the bolts. Easy enough. And since I had some time, it didn't matter that the bolts were a little rusty and it was going to take a minute to break them free.
Right as I was getting started, Sal came up with a brilliantly simple solution... we could simply put something underneath the cooler inside the mount that would lift the cooler high enough to get a cup under the tap while still keeping it secure in the mount. An easy solution that would have taken only a couple of seconds.
It was the next thought that popped into my head that made me realize I am becoming my father. After Sal posed his quick and simple solution, my first thought was "Well, we could do it that way. But that's not the RIGHT way to get it done. We'll do it the RIGHT way."
We did it the RIGHT way. And now, all those who come behind us will have a cooler mount that allows them to pour water directly into their cups without coming up with some redneck engineered solution to quench their thirst. Suffice it to say that I am proud of myself and if I have to become more like anyone as I get older, I can't think of a better man than my father.
