Still a Favorite

I still get tickled over this story.

My oldest son is a veteran, and I am very proud of him for that. And his service has also given me a pulling the leg on people opportunity which I get a lot of miles on.

You see, he was a prison guard. That meant of course that he spent over a year stationed at Fort Leavenworth, site of the US military's largest prison. For most folks, that's the extent of their knowledge on the garrison.

Consequently, I got a lot of Dad joke mileage on that fact. Friends would come up to me and say, "So I hear your son's in the Army."

"Yep," I'd answer plainly.

"Where's he at?"

I would answer simply, "Leavenworth."

This would always be followed by a pause as they processed information which clearly stunned them. Eventually they would ask, sheepishly, "Leavenworth?" And I would respond, "Yep. Couldn't be more proud of the boy."

There would be another pause as they tried to think what to say next. But after letting them hang for a few seconds I would say, "He's a prison guard. He's on the right side of the bars." It's funny how much relief they showed when I would finally admit whole story. Many of them would audibly sigh when I let the cat out of the bag.

Have I properly thanked you son, for feeding my impish sense of humor?