A new cultural movement has spread throughout Mount Allison’s student body. This newly emerging subculture is one that brings humiliation, hilarity, socks and sandals, barbecues, beer guts and, most of all, shocking amounts of enthusiasm for golf. That’s right, “dad culture,” also known as “dad-stalgia,” has taken hold of young people in a major way.
In a welcome “blast from the past,” you can frequently observe twenty-year-olds across the nation sipping cheap beers while discussing the virtues of duct tape and comparing their prized collections of screwdrivers (which are virtually untouched in favour of said duct tape). Rather than “getting lit” to Kanye West, those who identify with dad culture are partying to the soundtrack of debates about whether the greatest performer to ever live was Rocky or the gofer from the true cinematic masterpiece of our time, Caddy Shack.
With so much unrest in the world, taking a step back may be just the change of pace we need. Dad culture recognizes a simpler time, a time when beer was cheaper, when your dad had a gloriously full moustache – evidence of which you’ve only seen in slightly discoloured, old photographs – and when “Cat’s in the Cradle” by Harry Chapin was the saddest sound to ever touch any man’s ears.
So the next time you find yourself standing at a family event, probably near a barbecue, take in your father’s cargo shorts, golf shirt and even his customized apron with “Will cook for Beer” scrawled across the chest and appreciate him for the cultural pioneer that he is. Say “I’m grateful,” then shake his hand as he echoes the chorus of generations of dads before him and dads that will follow: “Hello grateful, I’m dad.”
