cluck cluck clap clap

another interesting character from the party at the Lamont Collective was Carlos...

Carlos was a tad tough to read
not sure where he was coming from or where he was headed
we talked for a few minutes in the kitchen
it was a short conversation as Carlos is single and male
Carlos being single and male was looking for something single and female
a search I understand... even if I am old, married, and no longer involved in the hunt
Carlos slowed from his hunt to entertain me for a few minutes

in this kitchen conversation we talked as I poured myself a drink
the topic of kids came up
as a third party in our conversation had heard that I had two kids
to which I learned that Carlos is also a father
it was hard to read and hard to understand
Carlos seemed to be telling the truth.... but he also seemed to have a hint of sarcasim
which had me thinking that he was "f_cking with me"
yet I played it straight as if he were giving me the straight talk

in this conversation Carlos did most of the talking
in lots of conversations one person talks and another person listens
I have a bad habit of talking and not listening
in this situaiton... it was Carlos who was prone to more output than input
in this diatribe about parents, life, kids, and the approach of father's day I listened as Carlos told me about his son
he really did not tell me much about his son
other than where he went to school and the grade he is entering
while the school was a definite the facts on the grade were a tad blurred
then there was the name of his son... a name that was more action than words
two clucks of the tongue and two claps of the hand
that is right
his son's name was "cluck cluck clap clap"
written on the birth certificate the way it sounds; cluck cluck clap clap
with nicknames of "clap clap" or "cc" to make phone conversations more fluid
as it would be annoying to have to put the phone down each time you want to use direct address

it was all very interesting
Carlos rolled his eye as I brought up "the boy named sue" reference
then the eyebrows raised as he learned that johnny cash was not the author of this famous song
but rather shel silverstein
the conversation continued
some talk of father's day
explanation of getting married and having kids too young
then a parting of the way
before we parted I asked Carlos if he was in fact just "f_cking with me"
he was not
he did in fact name is son cluck cluck clap clap

Carlos felt that his son hated him for the name that he gave him
I tried to assure him that his son certainly had better reasons to hate his father than his name
I hope that Carlos saw his son on father's day