The Herb Files: Far from the tree?

When I was growing up I really did not get along with my father. In fact, neither of my brothers did either. It explains in part why I chose to leave home my senior year and study abroad in Belgium. Now, as I have been getting older it has begun to hit me long after it hit both of my older brothers. We all turn in to our parents at some point. It is a tough cookie (or in our case maybe matzah ball) to swallow but acknowledging it no matter how far you've fallen from the tree is important. I'm not saying that it is all necessarily a bad thing; certainly my dad has many admirable characteristics. But I'd like to think that I will fix the mistakes when I raise my kids that my dad made with me but everyone probably thinks that and then makes the same mistakes. I will say though that I must have gotten some of my goofiness from Herb. We both some times ask ridiculous questions and dress poorly among other things...

Last weekend at a larger family gathering at my brothers in Boston he needed to change his pants so he just took them off right there in front of everybody to my mother's dismay. Everyone burst out laughing and while I thought it was pretty funny too, my former college roomates would be quick to notice I've done the same thing. I would like to think my slightly less hairy legs and boxers (as opposed to tight underwear) make it more acceptable.

There's one the thing though that I can't relate to with Herb. Any one who's ever been to a restaurant with him will never forget the experience. Some times I can be picky with food but he is just over the top. In the past I've heard him ask questions like: "how does the fish compare with the soup?" or his favorite joke question: "do you accept cash?" On our recent trip to Boston we stopped at a Chinese place in New Hampshire where Herb spent probably 4 minutes with the incomprehensible waiter trying to determine whether the coke, since they did not have bottles or cans, had chlorine in it. After not determining anything there was another 3 minute conversation about whether they had fountain drinks or a soda machine and whether these two were different. When they didn't have Sam Peligrino (which he usually gets) he got the fountain soda and then exclaimed, after performing his usual smell test, (as if the chlorine is the expected taste): "I'm not tasting a lot of chlorine, this is unusual." Later on in the meal: "It's funny, this lobster doesn't taste like lobster." So baring that my taste buds don't change too much and I become paranoid about chlorine...