one for the record books

my dad told me that i would surely have a 4th of july that would rank worse than the one i had this past weekend...and to call him when that time came. this is something everyone wants to hear after a holiday celebration. let me fill you in on the events leading up to this father-daughter moment. on the wednesday leading up to july 4th, i still had no promising plans. not having a mode of transportation for myself excluded me from participating in activities beyond a 20-mile radius. my last hope was to latch on to my brother's plans but he assured me that he would be working and thus have nothing going on. so what do i do? tag along with my parent's. i mean, i've already rang in the new year a couple times with them and their friends and not had the urge to kill myself in the process...why would this be any different? lesson #1: no boomeranger should ever commit themselves to his or her parent's gatherings without a getaway plan. i found myself in a "crowd" of about 15 strangers and at that moment knew that the evening would be nothing less than painful. these moms and dads started grilling me about my lifestyle and volleyball ambitions. sure, some of the questions directed at me stemmed from pure curiosity, but i could pick out the judgemental and cautionary tone from their voices. some of my favorites from the evening were, "So what's your fall-back plan?" and "What are you doing for health insurance?" yah, lady, i really came to this party to sit here and defend my passion to you and your asshole friends. these are totally inappropriate questions to be asking a recent graduate whom you have literally just met, not to mention on a day like this. i don't expect you or your friends to understand the path i'm taking, and don't think for a second that i give a rat's ass what you think of it. thanks for making my evening comfortable and enjoyable...i really enjoyed the stimulating conversation. needless to say, this 4th of july will be forever filed in the "crapshoot folder"of my past, and i hope that i don't have to make that call to my dad for a very, very long time.