I can so relate to this, I too had a weird dad who never cared about his wardrobe, always rocking embarrassingly bright Aloha shirts tucked into slacks and with flip flops (sometimes taped together!). He was born and raised in Maui, very poor and was the first to graduate college in his family. My parents bought their dream house in 1988 and it remains EXACTLY the same, with gray carpet and teal counters in the kitchen. I used to be so embarrassed by my Dad's weirdness, dragging in a potted Bermuda pine from the backyard that we used to decorate with ornaments and practicing his karate moves in the front yard for all the neighborhood to see (and tease us kids about later). His freezer is always overflowing with food he's saved from various meals, sometimes from years ago. Like you I've definitely come to embrace and appreciate his eccentricities over the years, thanks for this post!!!
My dad, who died last summer, was very similar to yours. He hated to waste stuff, and he definitely ate a lot of questionable food. (Honestly, I've inherited my parents' "It's probably fine!" attitude about mildly old food, but I do have limits.) Even if he didn't enjoy something, he would keep eating it. For example, he'd buy something, like a fruit pie, on deep discount, complain about/warn you how it was not very good, and then serve himself another slice. He, too, collected aluminum cans for recycling. I bought my first and only American Girl doll with money he made selling cans by the pound to a recycling center. We were also very serious about composting before it was cool, so I'm good at doing that now that it's somewhat mandatory here in NYC. This rant is all to say thanks for sharing about your dad! :)
I can so relate to this, I too had a weird dad who never cared about his wardrobe, always rocking embarrassingly bright Aloha shirts tucked into slacks and with flip flops (sometimes taped together!). He was born and raised in Maui, very poor and was the first to graduate college in his family. My parents bought their dream house in 1988 and it remains EXACTLY the same, with gray carpet and teal counters in the kitchen. I used to be so embarrassed by my Dad's weirdness, dragging in a potted Bermuda pine from the backyard that we used to decorate with ornaments and practicing his karate moves in the front yard for all the neighborhood to see (and tease us kids about later). His freezer is always overflowing with food he's saved from various meals, sometimes from years ago. Like you I've definitely come to embrace and appreciate his eccentricities over the years, thanks for this post!!!
My dad, who died last summer, was very similar to yours. He hated to waste stuff, and he definitely ate a lot of questionable food. (Honestly, I've inherited my parents' "It's probably fine!" attitude about mildly old food, but I do have limits.) Even if he didn't enjoy something, he would keep eating it. For example, he'd buy something, like a fruit pie, on deep discount, complain about/warn you how it was not very good, and then serve himself another slice. He, too, collected aluminum cans for recycling. I bought my first and only American Girl doll with money he made selling cans by the pound to a recycling center. We were also very serious about composting before it was cool, so I'm good at doing that now that it's somewhat mandatory here in NYC. This rant is all to say thanks for sharing about your dad! :)