Sunday 30 September 2012

Overactive imagination?


Is this normal behavior? Recycling yourself?
My Dad has always been a drama queen. He comes across as shy and a bit withdrawn to those who do not know him but those who are lucky enough to know him get an insight into who he really is. This is the man who once randomly jumped into a lake with his clothes on in broad daylight, simply ‘just because’ and who gets random words stuck in his head and then goes around repeating them for weeks, even months. A favourite being ‘Buckbeak’ from the Harry Potter series. My Dad is in his 50’s and still has a massive grin on his face, and usually a laugh too every time he passes wind. Basically they say men mature slower than woman, my Dad isn’t slowly maturing. He has stopped. That’s if he ever actually began the process. So what was my Dad like as a boy? When acting the way he still does is thought to be acceptable and not extremely embarrassing to his children. Well…

Some children have imaginary friends, which must really creep out some parents, let alone annoy the hell out of them. Accounting for their own children as well as their children’s ‘friends’ who do not have to be home for dinner, who stay out as late as they want and always seem to be sitting on the seat you are about to sit on. My Dad had an imaginary friend. His imaginary friend was not in human form… He was ‘Pump’ the Budgie. My Dad went around holding his finger out as a perch for his good friend Pump. He used to allow Pump to fly across the road and then return to his finger. I’m not sure how long Pump lasted; I can only assume it must have been a while for him to remember him so fondly, it was clearly a strong bond and friendship that they shared. I should also add that my Dad wasn’t inventing a pet budgerigar because he wasn’t allowed to own a real one, as a matter of fact he did have a real one, also by the name of Pump, but in my Dad’s words real life Pump ‘just wasn’t the same’. That’s right. My Dad had an imaginary replacement of something he already had simply because he was more attached to the made up version.  Now I am wondering if my dad has a new and improved imaginary version of me…


I questioned my Dad about imaginary Pump and real Pump. Imaginary Pump ‘existed’ for two years. TWO YEARS! For a man who has finished very few books in his lifetime…and those that he has completed are usually authored by Karl Pilkington, I am extremely impressed by his persistence. I can only assume my Dad was bullied. Also worth adding that real Pump existed for around 6 months.




1 comment:

  1. Your father sounds delightful! Loved the picture of him recycling himself.

    Yusuf. X

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