pop

A note of explanation is in order here I suppose.

The man who was my biological father, an d whose name I proudly carry was killed when I was very young, and while he had great influence on me then his influence lessened as I got older. I call him Father. As in my father. . .

The man who really raised me (actually mom raised me, but he was there) was Dale. I call him Dad mostly, but never Father. Sadly he is the male of record in most of my life. He was a complex man, capable of great patience with machinery (he could figure a machine out and "fix' it), but he had little patience with people.

I came to not be terribly fond of him soon after he married mom. I know a shrink could spend a LONG time on that one, but I’l let the obvious stand, which is that I was a kid, and he was pretty cruel at times.

When it came to names, Mom would not let me call her any name that she thought sounded disrespectful. She was “mom” or “mother.” It was a good policy, one I continued to my daughters and now grandkids.

So when my anger at my step dad rose, I found the most disrespectful thing I could call him and get away with. He was a very strong disiplinarian (with my sister and I, not so much so later with his son). So I caled him “Pop”. It was about as opposite of what my mother would allow as I could get away with, and about as disrespectful as i could get away with. Besides the name had that rebellious ring I liked.

So I called him Pop and it stuck.

One of my uncles (gone now) was called Pop a great deal. It always seemed to be a bit disrespectful.

My kids just know that my name is not Pop! Grandkids learn fast too. I have reverted to my mom’s idea of respect!