Emma laughed, “I think she was afraid you would react this way. Just don’t say anything to her, I’m sure she will tell you about it herself soon enough. After you talk to her, maybe she will send me a text message to let me know how your talk went.”
“She gave the perfect answer,” I said.
“Go to work Brian,” Emma smiled.
“Go back to sleep and enjoy your day off. I’ll see you tonight when I get home.”
“You have a good day,” she replied.
“By the way, there is an Oreo Cookie donut for you on top of the refrigerator.”
“You mean you didn’t eat it, I thought they were your favorite?” Emma replied.
“They are,” I smiled. “Since it seems I didn’t buy enough for everyone, I thought I would leave that one for you and stop at Timmy’s on my way to work for mine.”
“So, the kids found your stash?” Emma laughed.
“Yeah, so enjoy your donut,” I smiled and then left for work.
Chapter 4
It started out as a normal day at work.
As I walked into the office, my secretary Mandy looked up at me and started to snicker.
She was the office jokester, so I immediately began to suspect that she was up to something.
“Mandy, you have better not put another whoopie cushion on my chair or too much sugar in my coffee again,” I said. “I’m not in the mood for any funny business today, I have too much work to do.”
“I’m not up to anything, honest,” Mandy smiled.
But her sparkling blue eyes, upturned noise and the big grin on her face told me otherwise. The fact that she was biting her finger, something she always did when she was trying to stifle a giggle, always gave her away.
“You certainly look like you are up to something,” I said then asked, “what’s with that ornery grin on your face? I’ve seen that look before, usually right before something happens.”
“I’m sorry,” she replied as she continued to smile. “I was just smiling because I see it’s Oreo Cookie week at Timmy’s.”
“What?” I asked.
Mandy pointed to her chin.
“You have donut crème all over your chin,” Mandy laughed.
I ran my hand down over my close-cropped beard and sure enough, my hand was covered in the black and white crème that filled Oreo Cookie donuts.
It seemed to be a problem I had every year around this time. You see it had always been a tradition to grow a beard at the start of football season.
I don’t know why, it had something to do with luck or something, but over the years it just became something I would do without thinking about it at this time of the year.
In my younger years I would grow a straggly looking beard, but as I got older I kept it trimmed short.
I don’t know why I still grew a beard because I couldn’t wait for the time to come when I could shave it off.
Emma didn’t mind it, Katie always got a kick out of picking crumbs of food out of the beard.
When Katie was younger, she would always rub her cheek against my beard and giggle.
Now she just likes to tug on it and say it feels funny and point out the few gray hairs that appeared recently.
I have been saying for years that I was going to stop growing the darn thing each fall, but for some reason here I am again.
“Thanks,” I said and returned her smile and walked into the restroom to take a quick look in the mirror before getting to work.
It would be embarrassing if one of the top executives would walk into the office and saw me like that.
Besides, with my luck I would have gotten the icing all over an important report and would have to redo the report.
I went in to my office and closed the door.
I had to finish up the report I had been working on to wrap up an audit I had just completed on the receivables department.
It had been an easy project, income was up and delinquencies were the lowest they had been in years.
Everyone was complying with policy so there weren’t any problems to report, which made both me and the company happy.
I was just finishing up my report when Mandy knocked on my door, then stuck her head into the room.
“Brian,” she said. “There is some lady on the phone from your daughter’s school. She said she needs to talk to you.”
“Did she say what she wants?” I asked.
“No, but she seems kind of pushy,” Mandy replied. “Do you want me to tell her that you’re in a meeting?”
“No, put her through, it might be important,” I said.
Mandy disappeared and a second later the phone on my desk rang.
“Hello, Brian Michaels,” I said.
“Mr. Michaels, this is Donna Davis. I’m with the CDC and we are at your daughter’s school today to distribute a vaccine as a precaution against the upcoming flu season,” she said. “I understand you wouldn’t sign your daughter’s consent form so she could get a flu shot today. Could I ask why?”
“Well, Ms. Davis, I don’t know what this flu shot is about and until I feel comfortable with the reason for the flu shot and what kind of vaccine you are giving my daughter, I prefer that she didn’t get the shot at this time.”
“She did tell you that the shot is free?” she asked.
“I understand that,” I replied.
“The government has determined that the flu season is going to be especially bad this year, especially in the schools, so they developed a vaccine to protect the kids from getting the flu. I think you should reconsider and give your consent.”
“I believe the government put out a vaccine last year too and it was completely ineffective because it was for a strain of the flu that never materialized,” I said.
“We can’t always be right, but we do our best,” Davis replied. “But by all indicators we feel sure that we have the correct strain identified this year and it could cause some unfortunate damage to teenage girls if you understand what I am saying.”
“Like I said Ms. Davis, until I know more I don’t want her getting that shot,” I said.
“As a member of the CDC I must insist that you allow her to have this vaccine,” Davis replied now more insistent.
“Ms. Davis, I do not appreciate the government telling me what I should or should not do,” I said. “If I decide the shot is advisable, I will take my daughter to a doctor to get her the shot myself, but not before that.”
“So, you’re one of those anti-government people,” Davis sighed.
“What I am or what I am not, has nothing to do with my decision. I’m her father and I will decide what is best for my daughter,” I said. “I don’t appreciate your insistence.”
“You know in California the shots are mandatory,” Davis said. “If your daughter doesn’t get the vaccine there is a chance she may not be allowed into school when flu season starts. If she were my daughter, I would want her to have the vaccine.”
“The shots are mandatory in California, why am I not surprised,” I laughed. “Ms. Davis. I’m sorry, but the answer is still no.”
“Mr. Michaels, I made this call as a courtesy to you, I am not required to obtain your permission. In the state of South Dakota, a girl that is sixteen years old or older can sign a form to override the parental permission slip. In fact, three of the five girls whose parents did not sign the form have already done so and received their shots.”
“Ms. Davis I would advise you not to attempt that with my daughter or I will take legal action,” I replied. “However, I assume you are calling me because you have already tried that and my daughter refused to sign with out talking to me first. My daughter is not to receive the flu vaccine and I think we are done, there is nothing left to say.”
“I feel that it would be in your best interest to reconsider, Mr. Michaels,” Davis said sternly.
“I have reconsidered and I do not want Logan or Katie to receive this shot,” I replied. “I didn’t sign a consent form for my
son either and I don’t want you trying to get him to sign any wavier. You haven’t said a word about Logan and it better not be because you already had him sign for this shot.”
“Your son was never given a consent for to be signed,” Davis said. “Only girls sixteen and over were given the form. The CDC has determined that only girls in this age group are at serious risk.”
“This keeps getting better and better,” I shouted. “I’m afraid to ask what other criteria the government had in determining who would get this vaccine.”
“Mr. Michaels,” Davis began again, but I was done listening.
I hung up the phone and sat back in my chair.
“I can’t believe those people,” I said to myself getting more upset the more I thought about the call.
I decided I need a drink of water and to take a few minutes to cool off.
I walked out into the hall and headed towards the water cooler.
When I reached the water cooler my neighbor Bob was there getting a drink.
Bob was an accountant with West River Electric and lived across the street from me.
Besides at work, Bob and I had often talked when we spotted each other out in the yard doing yard work.
He especially made it a point to talk to me whenever his team, the Vikings, beat my team the Packers.
It was a good-humored kind of harassment that I had to endure last year since the Vikings made it all the way to the championship game while the Packers were eliminated before the end of the regular season.
I endured it and was waiting for my chance to get back at him this year, at least I hoped that’s how it would work out.
His daughter Carrie was also friends with Katie.
I had never met Carrie, other than Katie introducing me by way of face time on her phone, but from what I could see and hear on the five-inch screen on Katie’s phone, she seemed polite and like a nice girl.
“Hi Bob,” I said as I walked up to the cooler. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure Brian,” Bob replied. “If it’s about the Johnson account, I cleaned up that mess. I have the papers in my office if you need to check them over.”
“No, it’s about your daughter,” I said.
“My daughter?” he asked looking concerned.
“Did you sign a consent form for her to get a flu shot at school?” I asked.
“Yes, I believe I signed it on Monday,” he replied. “Why do you ask?”
“Because I just got a call from someone on the bus down at her school giving the shots. I didn’t sign the form and she called and practically threatened me to give my authorization to give Katie the shot,” I said.
“Why didn’t you sign it?” he asked.
“I wanted to know more about the vaccine before I signed,” I replied. “Why did you sign it?”
“It was free,” he smiled. “I pay enough taxes to the damn government, I figured I should get something for my money. Besides it is just a flu shot what could it hurt, I figured it might help. I had the flu three years ago and I thought I was going to die. What were you worried about?”
“You’re probably right, but I would have just liked to have had some time to find out what they were doing,” I replied. “Katie didn’t show me the form until this morning, she has a problem with bringing things home to be signed.”
“I wish that was the only problem I had with Carrie,” Bob frowned. “Carrie doesn’t like to do her homework and she keeps losing her lunch money. Kids! What can you do?”
“Say, did you know Tim Hortons has Oreo Cookie donuts this week?” Bob asked grinning from ear to ear.
“Yeah, great aren’t they,” I smiled.
“I have a dozen in my office, you want one?” Bob asked.
I didn’t have to think about it for long.
“Sure,” I replied.
“Follow me,” Bob said.
I forgot all about how aggravated I was and followed Bob to his office.
Needless to say, we couldn’t eat just one.
After I left Bob’s office I made a stop in the restroom to check my beard in the mirror before returning to my office to go back to work.
Chapter 5
It was Monday morning and the weekday routine began all over again.
Logan was again in the living room watching Star Trek.
I caught a few lines of dialogue as I listened and knew he was watching the episode called The Trouble with Tribbles, one of my favorite episodes.
I was tempted to join him but decided that if I did, I would probably be late for work. I still had to take a shower and trim my beard.
I poured the French Vanilla into my coffee cup and swirled the coffee around to mix in the cream with the coffee.
I took a sip as I opened the paper and remembered the taste of the Oreo Cookie donuts that I had last week.
It felt like it took forever for Oreo donut week to come around this year and now it was over until next year.
In a way it remined me of Christmas when I was a kid. It took forever for Christmas to come around, but when Christmas morning came I couldn’t wait to open my presents. I would tear them all open in a matter of minutes. I then realized that after I opened my last present that what I had been waiting for was over.
I then tried to open my presents slower after that to make Christmas last longer.
As an adult I realized that eating my Oreo donuts slower didn’t make the season last longer.
Besides the point was to enjoy Oreo donuts. Since I couldn’t make the season longer, I compensated by eating more donuts.
I took another sip of my coffee and laughed to myself, being a grown man and obsessing over Oreo Cookie donuts was kind of silly, that was something I would expect Katie to do.
Speaking of Katie, I sat up and listened.
It was unusually quiet in her bedroom this morning. On a normal morning I would hear nonstop talking coming from her room.
I decided I had better look in and see if she had slept in today, I found that possibility unlikely since she had an alarm app on her phone and was always awake by this time of the morning. She had an app for everything. If I would know what to look for, her phone would be a treasure trove of secret information that I’m sure would give me heart attack if I knew about it.
I would never invade her privacy by looking at her phone, that is if I knew how to do it, but since Katie seemed to tell me about everything she did, I was sure I really didn’t have anything to worry about…..yet.
When I got home from work on Friday, Katie was there to meet me at the door to tell me about her day and her run in with Ms. Davis.
She said the lady was obnoxious and was insistent that she get a flu shot. She said the lady wanted her to sign a special consent form. She said that her friends whose parents hadn’t signed a consent form for them to get the flu shot, they had signed the special form and received a shot, but she didn’t.
She said she almost signed it because she wasn’t sure what to do. When the lady said she had called me and told her that it was OK for her to sign, she knew the woman was lying and she refused to sign the paper.
She said after our talk that morning she was sure I wouldn’t want her to sign anything.
She also said she was beginning to understand why I am always so suspicious of anything the government wants people to do.
I made a mental note to pay the school a visit later today.
She also apologized about not showing me her report card. She said that her conscience had been bothering her and she had to tell me the whole story.
She also told me she had scraped her knee in Gym class, got into trouble for talking during English class, told me about what Jenny, her best friend, had done with her boyfriend last weekend and a lot I have already forgotten about, probably because my mind was in shock by the end of our conversation.
I found out just about everything she did except how many times she went to the bathroom on Friday, which she probably felt wasn’t important or s
he would have told me that too.
I appreciated the fact that Katie confided so much of her life in me, when you have a teenage daughter you can never know enough. With Katie I figured that I would know if she was bothered by any big decisions and apparently other than the run in with Ms. Davis there weren’t any other important decisions she had to deal with last week.
I tried to use the time to discuss little life lessons with her like my dad did with me. I felt it important for her to use her mind to make her own decisions and not be a follower.
I think I’ve been successful because that girl certainly seems to have a mind of her own.
I cautiously stuck my head into Katie’s room and saw her sitting on her bed in her pajamas, she looked lost as she sat there staring out the window.
If I didn’t know better, I’d swear that her best friend had just died.
Her cell phone sat on her dresser, the screen was dark and quiet.
“Hey Katie,” I said. “Why so quiet in here this morning, is your cell phone broken?”
“No, but no one is answering this morning,” she replied. “Maybe everyone is still sleeping,” I said.
“Maybe,” she replied.
I decided to try and cheer her up.
“Can I make you something for breakfast?” I asked.
Katie laughed.
“I appreciate the offer, but ghee Dad, if you remember the last time I ate your cooking I thought I was going to die,” Katie giggled. “No offense Dad, but cooking isn’t your thing. Besides, I’m not hungry.”
“Don’t say I didn’t offer,” I smiled.
Katie smiled but then the look of excitement filled her face as her cell phone beeped.
Katie jumped up and ran by me to retrieve her phone from the dresser.
“Finally!” Katie cried out as she picked up her phone and pushed a button to bring her phone back to life.
Her eyes and the screen on her phone both lit up at the same time.
Just Trying To Stay Alive: A Prepper's Tale Page 4
