This is what can happen when you accede/capitulate to someone

[no_hypocrisy]

who doesn't know what he's doing.

Dateline: 1975. Our family had a small house on the Great Peconic Bay in Southampton. (Not the kind of Hamptons you imagine). The prior owners of the house left behind a wooden Penguin sailboat.

My father was classic Dunning Kruger. Because he was a doctor, that meant he knew everything without learning first.

And he knew nothing about how to sail. But that didn't stop him.

One summer day, he didn't invite me. He ordered me to go sailing with him. And I refused. Because my main consideration was my safety and Dad couldn't guarantee that. And hypocritical after all the lectures he gave me about never riding on motorcycles and getting into a car with drunk friends. I was 18 and I knew better.

Reiteration: he ORDERED me to get into the sailboat. Like he was getting angry with me. Reluctantly, I climbed in, with one of those orange life jackets.

Dad put up the sail and we headed towards Mattituck. Except after about 1,000 yards, the wind caught the sail and the boat leaned to the right. I'm no sailor, but I'm pretty sure that Dad made a huge mistake in stepping to the right instead of the left. Water poured in; we were capsizing. I wasn't panicking. I was thinking, "This figures . . . . "

Dad had a bad-looking deep scratch on his torso, which was profusely bleeding. I actually asked him if it was all right if I got out of the boat. Yes, I really did. I was bobbing on the surface of the water like a cork. In the middle of the bay. I was thinking, "It must suck to be right all the time."

Fortunately, Mom saw what happened from the house and dispatched a neighbor with a motorboat to fetch us back to shore.

I didn't follow Dad blindly into a bad situation; my sister would have done that. I did argue beforehand. But you need to know that our father was an authoritarian and made our lives miserable when you crossed him. I've discussed him before on this Board.

I risked injury, or worse, going along with orders that shouldn't have been followed.

I think of this vignette these days with TSF. He's dangerous. I don't intend to repeat my mistake in 1975.