Was your Dad a real hard arse when he was younger? While mine did not drink or bar hop he had a HOT temper. Remember one time a biker thought he was going to come over into his lane and kicked his door in and took off. Dad ran him down [note: a Toronado with a .455 HO engine can roll along pretty fast down a highway] almost ran him off a bridge abatement, and "convinced" the guy to pay for the damage on the spot. Now that a "few" years have passed we laugh over some of the stuff, even finally told him about the Boat and Trailer coming off the Land Cruiser while going thru Muskegeon and ending up in the median a few feet from a huge Oak tree by the riverbank. Said he wondered why the metal was so thin on the tongue foot.

Took him til he was in his mid 50s to finally loosen up a bit, tho he can still have a temper and even at 75 I'd bet he could take most guys in their 40s as he still works out and runs everyday. Even falling out of a tree 22 feet did not slow him down once he got out of the hospital bed.

Mine was a tough and mean when he was younger. Now at age 67 he could be even more dangerous because now he will shoot.

I don't think my dad was a bigtime tough-guy until he got into fights.  He has told me all of his fight stories and he seems like he was a pretty bad dude, even in the fights he lost.  He told me he got in a fight with this one guy that just wouldn't give up, no matter how bad my dad would beat him.  He said finally he just got sick of it and one time he tackled him and got up real quick and jumped on his leg over and over again, breaking it pretty badly.  Apparently the guy stopped fighting after that. haha

I remember when I was younger... maybe 10 or so... which would make him about 54 or 55, we were driving down this street with a speed limit of 25, and the guy in front of us was going about 10-15mph.  So my dad sped around him on the left (one lane each way, double yellow), and as we went around, this guy yelled "ASSHOLE!" out the window, and pulled into a driveway.  My dad hit the brakes, turned around, got out and walked aggressively up to the guy, ready to fight.  The other dude backed down real quick when he saw my dad coming.

Never saw him like that before or after that.  Kinda upset me back then, but when I think about it, I always laugh.

My dad rules.  Love him to death.

It was all my fault.

I should have taken vengance when I had the chance.

Yup, and I bet you respect your dads more now than when being a kid. Yup, I had the same type of dad. Dad taught me how to hunt, fish and how to not be afraid to use my hands to fix things, etc. Dad and I had many disagreements as a kid but he made me walk the line. I knew his rules and knew what he expected. It was Dad that paved the road for preventing me from trying drugs, getting into trouble with the law...I knew he'd kick my a$$ if I did...Although I was mischievous at times. However, nowadays, I wish dad spent more time hunting with me. In Dad's older age, I see where he's become more forgiving and I have seemed to resumed his temper. He can't understand why I get so mad about "the little things". I have seemed to see these days that health can alter how you see your father. When you see you hard arse dad having a heart attack, you look at things in a new light. Cherish the memories as parents won't always be around. Unfortunately, my dad was given a second chance. Now if I can show him up in the field this year.

Quoted: Unfortunately, my dad was given a second chance.

!! Typo?!

Yea to women or guys in handcuffs.

My Dad, well he was my dad, I forgave hime for everything he ever did to me when I was kid.
He treated his Grand daughter like a Queen before he died.  He did all the things for her that he negelcted to do with me

That is all that matters to me

Couple of incidents stick out. While drilling [pounding] our well at Silver Lake my Dad dropped the 100-150 pound weight on his thumb. Flattened it. Sat up all night with it stuck in a glass of Epsom Salts. I can remember him being white as heck and sweat running off his forehead but he left the thumb in it most of the night. My Mom finally made him go to the hospital the next day, they basically said "yup, it's smashed" and charged him $$$. At the time we were pretty broke so I doubt that my dad was real happy bout the expense.

Other was when he was in a T/A on his Kawi triple. Car pulled out in front of him and he crushed his leg to include putting the footpeg thru his leather boot, then thru his leg, foot was crushed and all the toes were broken also. His biggest complaint was the siren on the whambulance and that the woman driving the car kept his Cross pen because she was pissed she got a ticket for failure to yield.

Was my Dad hard on me? Yes. I hated him for it but since I grew up, I realized why he was so hard on me. He is proud of the man I have become and he reminds me of it often. Old fart retired Marine that he is.

No, my dad didn't really participate and was the epitome of "hen-pecked".   He's told me he loved me three times that I can remember.  The stories I could tell.  However, I love my old man so I have dilemma raising my two sons.  I want to make them tough, but I want to let them know I'm in their corner no matter what.  I will just try to balance it out with equal measures, I guess.

At 32, I can still hear my dad giving me what for, in the back of my head ,when I do something stupid.  

My brother and I spent most of our teen years in a foster home because our Dad came after us with a gun.  Yea, he was drunk.

I didn't see him again for fifteen years.  He wasn't so big then.

My dad was always an easy going nice guy, now I'm sure the same won't be said about me.