On the first day of Robotics Class, one of the owners of the facility pulled GWE aside and did a “Full Court Press” to have us sign Justin up for more classes. The school was insistent that we add months of classes RIGHT NOW because, 1) THEY were in demand and could not guarantee space for him in the future, and 2) THEY needed to know OUR level of commitment. GWE wisely responded that it seemed presumptuous of us to make a commitment like that…especially since he hadn’t even begun his 1^st class yet.

Four weeks later, Justin and I entered the Robotics School for his last “pre-paid” session. I was prepared for the return of the “Full Court Press” and had my excuses ready as to why we would not be continuing with the program. I was going to start with: “Well, it’s the Summer and we want Justin to do outside activities.” I was prepared with the backup: “Well, we’re going to be traveling to see family this Summer and we wouldn’t be around much.” And finally, I had the “Discussion Ender” ready if push came to shove. It was: “You people creep the hell out of me and I want you to leave my son alone.”

Sure enough, I was summoned to the main office while Justin was hard at work in the classroom. The same owner who approached GWE weeks earlier curtly asked, “Will Justin be continuing with us?” I smiled politely and was prepared to gently give her the bad news that we would not be moving forward. But, she abruptly cut me off by announcing, “We don’t believe Justin should come back. Maybe in 6 or 8 months, but not now. He’s not ready for this.”

Mentally, I said “Hey asshole! You can’t break up with us because we’re breaking up with you!! You can take your crappy tablets, your shitty Lego mechanical building blocks (too small for the human eye to see), and you can program them to crawl up your ass and die!”

Verbally, I said “I agree.”

And with that, I took my son’s hand…told him that he never had to come back again…and we both farted on our way out the door.