So I took my daughter to Bogus Basins tubing hill over the weekend. Like an idiot, I overlooked the need to make a reservation but was saved by the fact that the people in front of us in the line to get our tickets, were there to cancel out due to the cold temps and wind. They were clever enough to make reservations, but not clever enough to dress up with appropriate winter gear. Morons.

You can bet those kids were pissed to have to go home without having gone tubing. I was only moments away from having to deal with that myself! It had taken us over 30 minutes to find a parking space, so actually getting tickets was a relief. I may be an idiot, but at least we were set to have fun.

As we waited for our time slot to to go, (the tickets were for 3-4 pm) I watched as another family came in to warm up. The mother appeared to have spent 3 hours doing her hair and putting on makeup that morning. She in no way looked like the type of person you would expect to see outdoors. She was caked with Mary Kay, dripping in expensive jewelry, and wearing an outfit that was clearly designed for fashion and not braving the elements. The scowl on her face was priceless. She was freezing, irritated, and not remotely sharing the enthusiasm that her child was experiencing.

The dad was trying in vain to make a cell phone call. It must have been a realy important call to make, because he held his phone up in the air, waved it around and paced with it trying to get a signal. He would have stood on his head to make that call. He had dressed for the weather. In fact, he looked like a lumberjack or an icefisherman from Fargo. His outfit reminded me of the one Randy Quaid wore in National Lampoon's Christmans Vacation. Dopey hat, red checkered flanel shirt, an all. If anything, I imagined the wife cringing at his outfit, but perhaps jealous that he was warm and comfortable.

The little boy was about 4 years old and chomping at the bit to go down the hill again. He was protesting loudly to his dad about this unplanned trip indoors. He was cold, but not cold enough to be fiddle-faddling around when there was a tubing hill only 20 feet away, just waiting to be tackled again.. Dad brushed him away and kept fiddling with the cell phone. Mother just sat there rubbing her hands together with a tense look. In fact, for the ten minutes I watched them, she never said a word, or even looked in their direction. Had I not seen her brush snow off the little boy when they came in, I'd never have guessed that they were even there together. She just stared straight ahead with a look that I can't begin to replicate.

So there we had it: a frustrated kid, a frustrated man, and a frustrated woman. Do you ever watch people and just try to guess the story behind them? I do. I imagined several scenarios that would fit these circumstances before I settled on the opinion that this was a too-busy dad, evil stepmom, and a little kid desperate for some attention.

When we left the building, I commented to my daughter that "they didn't look like they were having fun".

Sophia's reply seemed infinitely more plausible. She said: "Daddy, maybe they forgot how to have fun".