This is a bit of a role reversal. My teacher was a pretty cool guy. I aced every exam in his class, always approached him after lecture to chat, and, in general, just wanted to be more like him. He was a pretty cool guy!

Well, one day we went to an event and he met my dad. Around 30 minutes into the conversation, he realized that my dad never really cared about what I did. He asked my father about different things about me that I had already told him about, but my dad couldn't recall a single one. In fact, he would just start talking about himself every time my professor tried to bring the conversation back around so that I felt included. Finally, before walking away, he grinned at me and said, "Wow, I guess the apple does far from the tree." I was mortified. I thought my dad would kill me... It probably took around three days or so for my father to realize that it hadn't been a compliment towards him, but towards me. He still brings it up occasionally almost eight years later..

It was a sobering moment for me. I was graduating a couple years early and starting college as I turned sixteen, and to some people that's impressive. He was the only one that really understood that I needed to get educated and get out. I didn't even realize that I needed the escape until then, or why I was so motivated to get the fuck outta dodge. I'm a much happier person for it, although sometimes I mourn the relationship that I could have had with my father.