ML: Excel, Dad: Life

My brother called me the other day with a question about Excel. This is not unusual--I am his go-to person for this oh-so-fabulous gift from the Microsoft gods. And, admittedly, I know phenomenal amounts about it because I (a) LOVE it and (b) use it all the time to create reports and run analysis. He asked me a question about how to do something, and I told him the answer. I expected a "thanks" but instead I got an almost angry, accusatory, "HOW did you know that!?!?" Turns out he asked four other people before me how to do this one thing and none of them knew it. I went on to tell him that somewhere along the way I learned the trick and just didn't forget it. The conversation then turned to other areas, eventually settling upon the fact that he was trying to fix a grounding-cable problem he was having (his new plasma TV makes a quiet hum nose).

ML: Well, that's something I definitely can't help you with...I probably wouldn't even notice the hum.
TL: Yeah, you wouldn't. It's something probably only dad and I would notice. I'm going to call him next. He'll know how to fix it.
ML: Dad knows how to fix everything...
TL: (laughs) Yeah, how'd he learn all that?
ML: Probably the same way that I learned the excel stuff.
TL: Well I don't know how to do any of it. But between Dad with life stuff and you for excel--I'm covered.

And this got me thinking...my dad does know how to fix/do almost everything. It's odd. As I've gotten older I've realized it might not actually be that he knows HOW to do everything, but that he knows how to FIGURE OUT how to do it all. And then he has the confidence, with his new knowledge, to actually go do anything.

Nope, there aren't many things that I can do better then my dad (hell, even at 54 he beat me in the marathon!) and we're very similar. So when there IS something I know better, I secretly enjoy the fact that (now say this next phrase in a sing-song taunting voice of a playground five year old) "I know more than he does".

But then, maybe he knows more than me because apparently I'm still not all growed up.