Dads and kids

Today's conversation in class was very informative. It had me thinking about a lot of things. Specifically, the picture with the guy holding his child in a very nonchalant and confused way was the one that caught my attention. The first thought that came to my mind when watching that picture was how different that is from my own dad. My dad was always there for me in terms of being loving and cherishing. In fact, when I saw that picture, I had the initial belief that things like that don't really go on in today's society compared to societies of the past.

But then I tried to have an open mind about the situation. I knew that everyone's dad was not like my own, and that some people had fathers that were maybe not as hands on. Then what immediately came to mind was the show, "Everybody Loves Raymond." Ray's father, Frank is someone who basically didn't have any kind of input in terms of raising his kids. He was just in the background while his wife did most of the work. But what is interesting here is that Ray is kind of the same way as his father. When it comes to his own kids, there are times when he makes an effort to take part in raising them. But it is very apparent that Ray doesn't really have a big role in raising his kids. He goes to work, comes home, eats, and maybe does some more work as home. This drew significant parallels to what we talked about in class and the picture that was shown. It just had me thinking.