RULE ONE:
If you pull into my driveway and honk you'd better be delivering
a package, because you're sure not picking anything up.
RULE TWO:
You do not touch my daughter in front of me. You may glance at
her, so long
as you do not peer at anything below her neck. If you cannot keep
your eyes or hands off of my daughter's body, I will remove them.
RULE THREE:
I am aware that it is considered fashionable for boys of your age
to wear
their trousers so loosely that they appear to be falling off
their hips.
Please don't take this as an insult, but you and all of your
friends are
complete idiots. Still, I want to be fair and open minded about
this issue,
so I propose this compromise: You may come to the door with your
underwear
showing and your pants ten sizes too big, and I will not
object. However,
in order to ensure that your clothes do not, in fact, come off
during the
course of your date with my daughter, I will take my electric
nail gun and
fasten your trousers securely in place to your waist.
RULE FOUR:
I'm sure you've been told that in today's world, sex without
utilizing a
"barrier method" of some kind can kill you. Let
me elaborate, when it comes
to sex, I am the barrier, and I will kill you.
RULE FIVE:
It is usually understood that in order for us to get to know each
other, we
should talk about sports, politics, and other issues of the day.
Please do
not do this. The only information I require from you is an
indication of
when you expect to have my daughter safely back at my house, and
the only
word I need from you on this subject is "early."
RULE SIX:
I have no doubt you are a popular fellow, with many opportunities
to date other girls. This is fine with me as long as it is okay with my
daughter. Otherwise, once you have gone out with my little girl, you will
continue to
date no one but her until she is finished with you. If you make
her cry, I
will make you cry.
RULE SEVEN:
As you stand in my front hallway, waiting for my daughter to
appear, and
more than an hour goes by, do not sigh and fidget. If you
want to be on
time for the movie, you should not be dating. My daughter
is putting on her
makeup, a process that can take longer than painting the Golden
Gate Bridge. Instead of just standing there, why don't you do something
useful, like changing the oil in my car?
RULE EIGHT:
The following places are not appropriate for a date with my
daughter:
Places where there are beds, sofas, or anything softer than a
wooden stool. Places where there are no parents, policemen, or nuns within
eyesight. Places where there is darkness. Places where there is dancing,
holding
hands, or happiness. Places where the ambient temperature
is warm enough to
induce my daughter to wear shorts, tank tops, midriff T-shirts,
or anything
other than overalls, a sweater, and a goose down parka - zipped
up to her
throat. Movies with a strong romantic or sexual theme are
to be avoided;
movies which features chain saws are okay. Hockey games are okay.
Old folks
homes are better.
RULE NINE:
Do not lie to me. I may appear to be a potbellied, balding,
middle- aged,
dimwitted has-been. But on issues relating to my daughter, I am
the
all-knowing, merciless god of your universe. If I ask you
where you are
going and with whom, you have one chance to tell me the truth,
the whole
truth and nothing but the truth. I have a shotgun, a
shovel, and five acres
behind the house. Do not trifle with me.
RULE TEN:
Be afraid. Be very afraid. It takes very little for
me to mistake the
sound of your car in the driveway for a chopper coming in over a
rice paddy near Hanoi. When my Agent Orange starts acting up, the
voices in my head
frequently tell me to clean the guns as I wait for you to bring
my daughter
home. As soon as you pull into the driveway you should exit your
car with
both hands in plain sight. Speak the perimeter password, announce
in a clear
voice that you have brought my daughter home safely and early,
then return to your car - there is no need for you to come inside. The
camouflaged face at the window is mine.
A Little Perspective
Pythagorean theorem: 24 words.
The Lord's prayer: 66 words.
Archimedes' Principle: 67 words.
The 10 Commandments: 179 words.
The Gettysburg Address: 286 words.
The Declaration of Independence: 1,300 words.
The US Government regulations on the sale of cabbage: 26,911 words.