I Was Raised by Archie Bunker

I called my dad last night to catch up and chit-chat. We "shot the breeze" as he is fond of saying--such a cowboy. He referred to himself as "the Archie Bunker type" which is a long-standing family joke about my dad's personality. I say joke, but it's not really.

I think the actual sitcom was called "All in the Family." When I was a kid, my parents would have that show on once a week in the evening and we would laugh along, but in a short time we all realized that we actually lived with Archie Bunker and we called him on it. Every week.

Archie (Carroll O'Connor, who was from Missoula by the way) often sat in his big comfy chair in the living room, managing his household from there. He was quite conservative and didn't put up with anyone's guff. He was blunt, a trait that I honestly inherited from my father. Archie was not fond of any boys that his daughter dated (married) which reminds me of Dad saying something like, "Boys are fine, just not in the house."

The good thing about the whole comparison is that my mom was nothing like Archie's wife (her name escapes me just now). So last night, Dad said something like, "I'd rather be known as the Archie Bunker type." Which got us to laughing.

And then he said that his wife told him recently, "You're a dead ringer for Archie Bunker."

To which Dad replied, "The kids used to tell me that all the time."