Now I am a man who needs my bit of comfort. So it was with a little bit of trepidation when the wee man mooted the point about camping one summer. I don't know how the conversation cam about, but hey ho it did.
So I did the research and found a nice site in Devon with hookup and all the niceties of camp life. I set about sourcing the equipment and, bloody hell, it's an expensive lark to set up. However, I thought after the initial costs it wouldn't be too bad for future trips.
If the lad wanted to do this I would, like a good parent, accommodate him and who knows I might like it. Anyway we chose a tent and the equipment and I was about to press the internet button to purchase when I turned to Ger.
"Be good this" says I
"Yeah" says he
Well the yeah was a little muted so..
"You want to do this don't you" says I
"Do you" says he
"You don't do you" says I
"You do though" says he
"Only if you do" says I
"Ah" says he
"Not really keen are you" says I
"Um" says he
"Talk to me" says I
"Err" says he
"Good job I didn't buy anything" says I
"Eh" says he
"Let's go to Rome for the week instead, and stay in a hotel" says I
"Oh yeah" says he perking up
"Next time say what you feel" says I
"I thought you wanted to go camping" says he
"Feck off" says I
"Good" says he
communication with a teenager -- priceless