In the great circle of life, a son comes to understand his father's wisdom rather late in life.
I was all but enrolled in Miami in 1979 per my mother's wishes, but my father insisted that he have a chance to check out the place more closely before signing a check. I can still remember walking with him in a tour group as our guide droned on about the "Miami mystique" and how privileged we would be to attend the school. My father, a Northwestern graduate, kept rolling his eyes and muttering gems like, "Last I checked, this was still a state school." At the end of the tour, the guide asked if there were any questions. My father raised his hand and asked, "Where do they get their beer?" She replied that Oxford was dry and that Miami students weren't known for drinking ("unlike some other schools"). He raised his hand again and asked, "What do they do for entertainment?" She replied that Greek life was the center of the social scene. So he asked, "And where do they get THEIR beer?" She finally admitted that many students made weekly trips across the Indiana border. "THAT sounds safe," said the old man.
On the way home, as my mother was extolling the virtues of of MU, my father turned around and said, "If you ask me, the Miami mystique could be a big mistake. I think you should keep looking." My next trip was to Athens and he didn't express even the slightest concern when I asked him to write the check.
Last Edited: 10/25/2011 6:49:07 PM by SBH