COTOBs

"Chip off the old block" is a descriptive often misunderstood as a suggestion that a son (usually) or daughter is not just similar to but pretty much interchangeable with the dad.

And perhaps this is the reason the good minders at Kern County (Calif.) Jail let Jaime Garcia Jr. walk free when it was Sr. who had just been bailed out.

But the phrase really should be understood as not the same, but similar and casting glory on both father and child. So let us honor real COTOBs. First there is Gary and son Jonathan Harris who were both awarded Silver Stars for their service to the U.S. military. And then there is Carlos Herrera, who in receiving his Purple Heart discovered his father was also in Iraq and had been man he hadn't been in touch with for nearly a generation.

So, let the chips fall where they may.