~Twenty-Fourth Act~
As far as life goes, with regards to my health, things have been pretty alright. Well, as long as we forget the whole "brain damage" story and the fact that I have a habit of forgetting where the refrigerator is lately (until I want somewhere to store my laundry, apparently). I've been pretty lucky in the fact that I haven't been sick or caught any
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You're right about the nature of man, but I have learned the hard way that when a medical professional says to rest, you must rest, or you could end up in hospital. I'd always been prone to pneumonia, but that was the worst case I'd ever had, and since I didn't rest, it got worse.
If you think college is too tedious, you can always come work with Father and me and see how a real job feels. You can carry the cinder blocks for us.
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Well, you know me; since when do I listen to medical professionals? Violet can testify to that! The big one, not the little one...
Let's be serious here, Luxord: we're pushing 30 and in class with kids around 10 years our junior. We're a bit more than just mature students at this stage. And why do you make it sound like I've never done a hard day's work in my life? Do you know how much you sweat when trying to take a priceless vase from a heavily-fortified and secured vault? The amount of physical fitness and upper body strength required for such manoeuvrings is intense!
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True, you have listened a grand total of about twice, if I'm remembering things correctly.
Actually, I'm at a good average age in my department. There's a few other students who are much older than I am, and a lot of them already have children.
And you've never had the taste for actual physical work. I'm sure you went through a lot of trials and tribulations while in your previous occupation, but laying brick or stone will always be more physically demanding, in my opinion.
On that topic, I've something I need to talk about with you and mum. Father is getting older by the day, and I fear for his life when we're up on roofs or doing hard labour. He's trying to keep up the illusion that he's still young, but...
He's gotten old.
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Sounds accurate.
You're just saying that because you've always been the goody-two-shoes who abides by the letter of the law! You'll never know how physically and mentally taxing theft is! I'm sure we would understand one another's position better if we swapped lives for a day!
Would you like me to sit your father down and say "Nolan, you're old. It's time to do as all men must do eventually and start acting your age". Or is that something you envision saying to someone but never actually do? I still feel a much more straightforward and blunt approach would be best to deal with this. He's a stubborn man and isn't liable to go out to pasture before he feels ready.
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I don't remember if anyone told me at all, actually. I think it was one of those accidents that turns out in my favour...
But I'd have the better end of the deal there, my friend. Getting bailed out of jail gets your backside handed to you by your other half. Getting a massage after a hard day lifting possibly gets you a happy ending afterward! You have it much better!
The man needs to be pushed. He's a stubborn old mule and he needs to just be told he's in his sixties now and you shouldn't be doing manual labour past that age, in all honesty.
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I can see my sarcasm did not come across. Chlorine bleach is not the same, and they actually say to keep it away from cuts, as it can cause irreversible damage.
Despite that argument, I still think I have the more challenging job. You haven't done anything with your profession since you found yourself here again, have you?
I see you've never had muscle cramps before, either.
I know, he shouldn't, but it's Father, I can't boss him around. It took a great deal of coercing him to stop, and once the client saw him lifting even more weight, she said that either he took a break or she'd fire us on the spot. That was the thing that made him stop, not anything I said.
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You should have learned many years ago that sarcasm + cold medicine = severe bout of stupidity. I cannot be held responsible for what happens while I'm like this.
I honestly don't think your job is any harder than mine. And I can still do mine just fine; I'm just working on a more legitimate career to pass the time now. In your profession, you don't risk being executed. Try and argue your way out of that!
For goodness sake! You have to assert yourself! You can't just submit to his every foolish whim because he's your father! Fathers are worse than children sometimes, I know this well enough with my own. You are to be the master of your family, are you not? Time to start acting like it!
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As long as you're not behind the controls of heavy machinery or dealing with pointed objects, I will continue to be amused by your cold medicine-influenced bouts of stupidity.
True, I do not risk being arrested or executed, but I can electrocute myself, fall off of tall buildings, drop heavy objects on my feet, break every bone in my body, and in one rather odd occasion, be bitten several times by a very angry goose.
He is being very stubborn, but I think it's his way of denying that his body is just not as strong as it used to be, and his youth is long past him. His work keeps him alive and mentally strong, and elsewise I think he'd feel like he was turning into Grandfather Arthur, who had nothing to do all day and took to bossing everyone around.
I will become patriarch, yes, but hopefully not for a very long time.
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