Posted on 10. Nov, 2004 by Brian Reid in General
Talk about service journalism: Marilyn Miller of the Marshfield (WI) News Herald published this profile/plea for help about a local dad named Al Haasl. Al would like to hook up with some dads in similar situations. It’d be a bit of a haul for Rebel Dad, but if you’re in the area, give him a call. Marilyn put Al’s number in the story, too, so no one would have an excuse.
Also: It looks like a big company finally crossed the wrong group of guys. Verizon has been running a commercial (.WMV file) in which a dopey dad is brushed off by his daughter and scolded by his wife for being a clueless pain in the ass. By my increasingly jaded standards, the bit isn’t more offensive than any one of a dozen other campaigns. But it caught the attention of both man-defending radio personality Glenn Sacks and, apparently, the folks at Dads and Daughters.
According to the widely published AP story, Verizon is now “looking at” the ad, with no solid plans on what to do next. I’d be impressed if Verizon buckles, and if you want to do your part, Glenn has a page set up.
House Husband
11. Nov, 2004
That ad gets me a bit steamed.
Just imagine if the roles were reversed. If it was the Mum (or any woman for that matter) who had no idea what was happening on the computer?
Sadly it is quite acceptable it seems to bash men and Fathers in particular.
Reminds me of Everybody loves Raymond where Ray is the dumb arse.
KC Lemson
13. Nov, 2004
It occurred to me after reading the first paragraph that it must be 100x more difficult to be a stay at home dad. Sure, it’s harder to find other SAHDs to hang out with… but worse than that is to find the even smaller percentage of SAHDs with whom you and your children both mesh well. At least with SAHMs, they have a bigger pool to choose from and a higher chance of success just due to sheer numbers. Perhaps this is obvious to you, but it just occurred to me and I feel so bad for SAHDs! It’s hard enough as it is to make friends.