THE DADDY VOICE - Graduations

Kindergarteners (or 5/6th graders, 8th graders, HS and college seniors) listening to speakers drone on through five and ten minute (up to interminable) sets of bloated prose. All that is missing is the cartoon balloon over the heads of those ostensibly being honored captioned with "Blah ... Blah ... Blah...."

And the moms weep. And the dads are backseat directed which shots to get on video. Or the dads are not able to make the 9:45 in the morning assembly.

But listen to the in-corner chatter of a few dads and you hear an understanding that the ceremony is not really about the kids at all. It is a Rube Goldberesque social rite that lets us complain (about the length; about the money; about the good old days; about the ingratitude of the kids; about the moms) while taking great pride in our own honoree.