I got home at about three and a half in the morning and I started
doing some laundry to have some clothes for the next week of camp. I
was making so much noise that my mom came out to see what I was doing
and she never realized I was up late and not up early so I was not in
trouble. I got all of my stuff washed, dried and packed with only a
few minutes left to spare and I headed out to pick up the student
body president and make it to camp just in time. We got to the army
base where the camp was held just five minutes late. We were walking
through the registration line getting our group and room assignments
when I noticed that the camp CO was a major with the exact same last
name as the girl who I had kept out too late on a date the night
before. That seemed odd because it was not a common name and one I
had never heard before. As I got to the end of the line where we were
to shake hands with the CO, the camp director and a minor Utah news
celebrity I realized that the major in charge was my new girlfriend's
dad. Let me lay out for you just how improbable this is, I went to a
camp exclusively for student body officers, where I met a girl from a
school who lived 80 miles north and I had hit it off with her, taken
her on a date, brought her home late and got yelled at by her father,
then I was selected as one of two students from my high-school to be
chosen to go to a camp for future leaders and that girl's dad was the
commanding officer who I was 20 seconds away from having to meet for
the second time in eight hours. If this was a movie it would be
laughably implausible but it is absolutely true and it only gets
weirder. It was my turn for a handshake and photo opp when I made eye
contact with the dad who hours before was kind of cranky with me
about bringing his daughter home two hours late he smiled and
introduced himself and then recognized me. He looked honestly and
deeply confused as he tried to put together how I was in this line
getting signed in for his camp. He shook his head a little and was
squeezing my hand over long as he tried to wrap his head around this
coincidence. After about thirty seconds he asked me if I was at his
house last night I told him I was and that I was still sorry I had
lost track of time. He told me He was still mad about that and then
said he was going to keep an extra special watch on me for the week.
Good, one on one mentoring I hoped. I got my picture and we quit
holding up the line and I felt like I had dodged a dad and his wrath, I had not.
