Buried Treasure: a short-short story

My Daughter is Getting Married: a short-short story

Earning Father's Day: Ten Things Dads Can Do to Be Great Dads

Somehow, when the greeting card companies tell us to buy a Father's (or Mother's) Day card we jump to, even if our fathers aren't so worthy of an honorific.

What if a father had to earn his special day? We fathers can't turn back the clock but perhaps one or more of these things I suggest in my PsychologyToday.com article today we could do now might make us more worthy.

Not Your Usual Father's Day Presents

Many dads (stepdads count too)  don't need another tie, gadget, or bottle of booze. Even if they did, such gifts bear the odor of obligation rather than of affection.

Even if your dad's far from perfect, as long as you'd like to express some appreciation and/or build your relationship, Father's Day is a natural opportunity.  In my PsychologyToday.com article today, I suggest presents that These might help.

On Father's Day, An Ode to Men

To the blue-collar men, who, to earn extra money to support themselves and their families, forgo a comfortable desk job in favor of jobs few would do: from cleaning our sewers so we can flush our toilets and eradicating rats from our basement so we don't get diseases to precariously trying to stop our roofs from leaking.

To the men who protect us. For example, the media is careful to call firefighters "firefighters" rather than "firemen" but I've now looked at dozens of photos of the firefighters attempting to stop the 55,000-acre Colorado fire. All are men. And in the 9/11 terrorist attack, 343 fire (ahem) fighters died. All were men.  

To the white-collar men who, to earn extra money to support themselves and their families, endure long, difficult technical training and/or uproot themselves to some God-forsaken place every few years.

To the professional men like physicians who, to earn more money for themselves and their families, choose a high-stress, highly demanding specialty such as surgery, where they often must be awakened in the middle of the night for an emergency surgery rather than choose one of the more pleasant specialties with regular hours like pediatrics or general practice.

To the men who serve and die in the military. Their modest extra combat pay doesn't compensate for the risk. Although the media is careful to always say the men and women serving in the military, 98% of the military deaths are men.

Yes, women earn 77 cents on the dollar, but there are reasons other than "We live in a sexist patriarchy that suppresses women."

To all the hard-working men that must endure the media's and colleges' endlessly portraying men as overpaid and inferior to women, today on Father's Day at least, and at least from this writer, I salute you.