Essay #5 [Example Essay]

Women who say they are daddy’s little girl usually are implying their spoiled.  Rather it is financially or emotionally, their dads are there to catch them before they fall.  My dad always let the fall happen, and showed me to be strong and handle it myself.  He taught me things, not just did them for me.  There are three things that he’s instilled in me, though not completely on purpose; it’s obvious I got them from my dad.  For example; I learned that swearing, though harsh, releases stress, duct tape fixes almost everything, and even if you’re wrong, if you argue like you’re right you eventually might win.

We call it “The Bickford Temper”.  I’ve seen my dad thrash things around, and swear at inanimate objects for years.  In fact, just this week he’s been trying to fix a leak in the roof from the inside.  For the past three mornings I’ve awoken to some banging and clanging in the attic above my bedroom followed by the words “God damn asshole!”  Then I hear a power tool, a heavy sigh, and another round of yelling curse words.  This goes on for an hour before finally it’s fixed.  After all that stress and aggravation has been released with the colorful language, he can relax.  I usually do the same thing.  You wouldn’t even want to know the words I spit just while trying to write an essay.  But, it gets me through the process.

Who needs a hammer and nails when the great invention of Duct tape exists.  Not my dad.  I’m surprised he didn’t just patch up the roof with it to be honest.  One of the many things he has used duct tape for is fixing my car.  In front of my tire is a plastic piece.  I’m not sure what it’s for, but I know that it cam detached and made an awful grinding sound whenever I turned the wheel.  So after I cussed out that damn piece of plastic I ask my father for help.  Out comes the Duct tape.  I think he used an entire role just to make sure that it wouldn’t get lose, and gosh oh golly it worked.  Now a year later, that duct tape is still holding.  I find myself using duct tape for many easy fixes.

Last, but not least, is the stubbornness.  If you talk loud enough about the point you are trying to make, eventually the other party will back down.  The majority of the time my father is just talking out of his ass.  I think most people just give up on trying to talk with him.  I can clearly remember having a heated discussion between us about what kind of lights should go on the Christmas tree.  He wanted the old fashion ones.  The ones that have huge bulbs, are all different colors, and are 10 times more likely to start a fire.  I of course wanted the tiny bulbs that you can set to blink, and are just white so they make the garland sparkle.  Well, he put his swearing into use.  “Those god damn bulbs are useless, and hurt my eyes, and too expensive etc.”  My only response was “So what! I want these ones. The big bulbs are ugly!”  Needless to say, I was unprepared for this fight.  The big bulbs went up.  However, over the years I’ve found that I gained his skill of backing the other person down.

I’ll admit I didn’t get many of my Dad’s traits, but I’m glad to say I got something from him.  To some it might not seem like much, or even be the best qualities for a person to have, but I use these tactics often.  They can’t solve all my problems, but it’s the first solution I try.  I can keep calm, fix things on my own, and stand up for myself, and it’s all thanks to my dad.