June 13, 2024 • 10 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, if Bob McLalan knew his father would be living with him for 18 months, he would have thrown him out that first night. A collision of cultures like no other! The latest story with Bob McLalan.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
And we continue here on our American stories. And now
it's time for another installment of the McClellan Files, where
we go deep inside the life of Bob McClellan, someone
you don't know, but whose life and whose voice well
you're sure to be captivated by. And today Bob, who's
a marine, hears a story about his dad, who also
(00:35):
happens to be a marine.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
After getting my dad settled in the living room for
a short visit after my parents' divorce, my father and
I sat on the cash to have a beer and
watch some TV. Sitting next to him, I notice how
much he'd aged. His six foot two inch frame, combined
with his broad shoulders and chest, gave no hint that
(01:02):
he had lost any of his power, but he was
heavier and softer. His hair was graying, and the creases
in his face were deeper. As he leaned forward on
the couch to reach his beard and cigarettes. I had
to admire how formidable he still looked. He was aware
of what was happening to him, but.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
He didn't care.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
He had no interest in prolonging a life that he
felt had exhausted its excitement and purpose. He'd become bored
there were no more wars to fight, no more women
to love or children to raise. Left without these, his
passion for life was diminished, and his interest in life
had become lackluster.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
So he saw no sense in prolonging it.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Life had become a still photo rather than a motion picture.
His coming to a visit instilled some real anxiety in me.
I knew what to expect from him, and as the
chain of commander of the hierarchy in his house growing up,
it would be like that here, he'd want it that way.
(02:04):
In his house or under his command. He was like
a giant redwood tree and very little groves underneath those trees.
They are so big they gather all the sunlight for themselves.
He was used to giving orders and having them followed.
But now I was twenty six years old. I was
a former marine and a senior in college, and I'd
(02:25):
been living on my own and taking care of myself
for the last eight years. Come me to visit my home.
It would be my dad's turn. It would be his
turn to move over. My father would tell us boys
that the changing of command from father to son would
(02:47):
be inevitable. Let me tell you something, kid, and a
day will come when you're not going to want to
do what I tell you to do, and on that
day you're going to leave, because if I lose control
to one of you, I won't be able to control
of the other two. That day came when I was eighteen.
I blocked a doorway that he was trying to pass
(03:07):
through on his way to the kitchen. I stood in
the doorway and my chest really expanded. I thrust it
in front of him. We said, face to face, looking
into each other's eyes. He said, so you.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Think you're ready to take on your old man.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Now, I say that what this little display of yours
is all about, Well, let me tell you something. In
my age, I don't care anymore about winning or losing.
What you need to know is I'm not going to
go easy. I'm going to get a piece of you,
even if I have to bite it off. You're not
going to get out of this pain free. You need
(03:47):
to think about whether it's worth it to you. Staring
into his unblinking metallic blue gray eyes, I thought over
what he said and decided, Yeah, it's time to step
Let my father go on his way. My father knew
that the key weapon and intimidation is that just a
pinprick of doubt will burst the overinflated balloon of self confidence.
(04:15):
Living in San Francisco in nineteen seventy four was very
different than the life on the farm my father led
as a young man. Life in the city was about
freedom and audacity, not regulation and authority. There was nothing
that was clean or sterile. Order was not part of
the day's routine, and traditional roles, well, traditional roles and
(04:38):
values were best left back in your hometown. My roommate
returned from work after two am the night my father
arrived and joined us.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
At the kitchen table for a drink. Sitting around the
kitchen table, my father.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Reached into his pocket and produced an empty key ring,
Tossing it on the table, he said, look at that.
That's something you don't see every day, an empty key ring.
No more house, no more office, no more car. I
left with only my suitcase barely. Yeah, of course I
(05:13):
had already given away all my clothes.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
It was very little to pack. At least she didn't.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Throw them out in the street of the driveway like
she used to do. She can have it all in
loading the car, payments, house payments, electrical bill and all
that crap that goes with those things.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
I had my suitcase and that's all I want. I
went overseas with far less.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
The night after my dad's arrival, I invited my girlfriend
a couple of friends over to meet him. Sitting around
the kitchen table having a few drinks was an easy
way to introduce my father. Sharing drinks at a bar
around a table, talking that was his element. After everyone
bibed a few pops, he answered questions about his life
(06:00):
and he started to tell a story about his time
in the military police. I looked over and my girlfriend
sitting next to me, and I started to run my
fingers through her hair. I commented to her about how
beautiful she looked. She didn't respond or pay any attention
to me, as she seemed fascinated by the story. A
(06:23):
phone call from a hotel to the Kingston Police asking
for help. The desk clerk at a local hotel reported
that a woman was with a marine upstairs in her room, screaming,
you murderer, Oh my god, you murderer. The door was
locked and bolted on the inside, and the hotel clerk
was afraid of what he might find inside. He wanted
(06:43):
the MPs and the police to come immediately. He continued
in the hallway. Get a hear sobbing inside the room,
but there were no other noises. We pound it on
the door, so she screamed, you murderer, you animal.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Help.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Help whipped our weapons right out the safety, pulled the
hammer back and I heard my body back and shouldered
it into the door to get it open, and the
three of us sploded into the room with our guns
searching for a target. With our weapons locked unloaded, we
clickly surveyed the room but found no one other than
the sobbing woman sitting alone on the edge of the bed.
(07:19):
She raised her arms. He's in there, she said, as
she pointed to the bathroom. He's in there. I ordered
the other two n piece to cover the door. As
I burst into the bathroom, looking down the barrel of
my forty five, I only saw a drunken Marine sitting
on the floor in my gun sights, sitting between the
toilet and the wall with his arm around the back
of the water pipe. He looked up at me and
(07:41):
with a smile in his face, he waved his arm
and said.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Hi, yes, serge.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
We all had our guns pointed at him until we
realized he was unarmed and certainly too drunk to stand up.
I demanded to know what the hell's going on here? Marine?
With his free arm. The marine pointed inside the torele
the bowl and said look, and we all leaned forward
to peer into the bowl.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Into our amazement, there was a.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Small orange duckling the couple had won in a local fair,
swimming around the inside of the bowl. The drunk marine said,
watch this serge. With the arm around the water pipe,
he reached up and pulled the cord on the water closet.
(08:28):
The sound and a flush on the least a torrent
of screen from a woman in the room. As the
water was sucked down the drain. The duck caught in
the whirlpool started swimming faster and faster against the suction
of the vortex in an effort to stay afloat the
faster the water drain.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
The faster that duck paddled.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
In spite of his struggle to paddle fast enough though
to keep him from being flushed down the drain. He
was eventually sucked down the drain and disappeared. The bathroom
became quiet as the bull started to refill mystified. All
eyes remained transfixed on the now empty and quiet bowl,
(09:08):
which had just swallowed the Duckling Jesus Christ, Maman, what
the hell are you doing here? He said, he demanded.
Marine just sat there next to the toilet, laughing so
hard he could care less about the prospect that he
was going to be arrested and hauled off to the brig.
The woman in the other room, she just continued sobbing
about her boyfriend's cruelty until the water refilled the bowl.
(09:32):
When the water level was restored and the toilet bowl
quieted down out of the depth of the drain, the
duck suddenly popped up and continued to paddle around in
his porcelain pond as if nothing had happened. Mister Crowd
sat around the table laughing. A friend approached and asked, Hey,
(09:55):
is the coolest smoke some pot? I mean, I know
your dad was a marine and military policeman and all that.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
But is he cool?
Speaker 2 (10:03):
The reality of cultural and generational clash became real clear
to me.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Now.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
If I could have imagined at that moment that his
few days visit would turn into his becoming my roommate
for the next eighteen months, I would have thrown all
his clothes out on the driveway and bottom a one
way bus ticket back to my mom.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
And you and listening to Bob mccleollen and what a storyteller.
And we look forward to more from Bob mclellen. It's
the mclellen Files again, the mcclellen Files. Bob mclellens story,
his father's story here on our American Stories
And we continue here on our American stories. And now
it's time for another installment of the McClellan Files, where
we go deep inside the life of Bob McClellan, someone
you don't know, but whose life and whose voice well
you're sure to be captivated by. And today Bob, who's
a marine, hears a story about his dad, who also
(00:35):
happens to be a marine.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
After getting my dad settled in the living room for
a short visit after my parents' divorce, my father and
I sat on the cash to have a beer and
watch some TV. Sitting next to him, I notice how
much he'd aged. His six foot two inch frame, combined
with his broad shoulders and chest, gave no hint that
(01:02):
he had lost any of his power, but he was
heavier and softer. His hair was graying, and the creases
in his face were deeper. As he leaned forward on
the couch to reach his beard and cigarettes. I had
to admire how formidable he still looked. He was aware
of what was happening to him, but.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
He didn't care.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
He had no interest in prolonging a life that he
felt had exhausted its excitement and purpose. He'd become bored
there were no more wars to fight, no more women
to love or children to raise. Left without these, his
passion for life was diminished, and his interest in life
had become lackluster.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
So he saw no sense in prolonging it.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Life had become a still photo rather than a motion picture.
His coming to a visit instilled some real anxiety in me.
I knew what to expect from him, and as the
chain of commander of the hierarchy in his house growing up,
it would be like that here, he'd want it that way.
(02:04):
In his house or under his command. He was like
a giant redwood tree and very little groves underneath those trees.
They are so big they gather all the sunlight for themselves.
He was used to giving orders and having them followed.
But now I was twenty six years old. I was
a former marine and a senior in college, and I'd
(02:25):
been living on my own and taking care of myself
for the last eight years. Come me to visit my home.
It would be my dad's turn. It would be his
turn to move over. My father would tell us boys
that the changing of command from father to son would
(02:47):
be inevitable. Let me tell you something, kid, and a
day will come when you're not going to want to
do what I tell you to do, and on that
day you're going to leave, because if I lose control
to one of you, I won't be able to control
of the other two. That day came when I was eighteen.
I blocked a doorway that he was trying to pass
(03:07):
through on his way to the kitchen. I stood in
the doorway and my chest really expanded. I thrust it
in front of him. We said, face to face, looking
into each other's eyes. He said, so you.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Think you're ready to take on your old man.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Now, I say that what this little display of yours
is all about, Well, let me tell you something. In
my age, I don't care anymore about winning or losing.
What you need to know is I'm not going to
go easy. I'm going to get a piece of you,
even if I have to bite it off. You're not
going to get out of this pain free. You need
(03:47):
to think about whether it's worth it to you. Staring
into his unblinking metallic blue gray eyes, I thought over
what he said and decided, Yeah, it's time to step
Let my father go on his way. My father knew
that the key weapon and intimidation is that just a
pinprick of doubt will burst the overinflated balloon of self confidence.
(04:15):
Living in San Francisco in nineteen seventy four was very
different than the life on the farm my father led
as a young man. Life in the city was about
freedom and audacity, not regulation and authority. There was nothing
that was clean or sterile. Order was not part of
the day's routine, and traditional roles, well, traditional roles and
(04:38):
values were best left back in your hometown. My roommate
returned from work after two am the night my father
arrived and joined us.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
At the kitchen table for a drink. Sitting around the
kitchen table, my father.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Reached into his pocket and produced an empty key ring,
Tossing it on the table, he said, look at that.
That's something you don't see every day, an empty key ring.
No more house, no more office, no more car. I
left with only my suitcase barely. Yeah, of course I
(05:13):
had already given away all my clothes.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
It was very little to pack. At least she didn't.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Throw them out in the street of the driveway like
she used to do. She can have it all in
loading the car, payments, house payments, electrical bill and all
that crap that goes with those things.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
I had my suitcase and that's all I want. I
went overseas with far less.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
The night after my dad's arrival, I invited my girlfriend
a couple of friends over to meet him. Sitting around
the kitchen table having a few drinks was an easy
way to introduce my father. Sharing drinks at a bar
around a table, talking that was his element. After everyone
bibed a few pops, he answered questions about his life
(06:00):
and he started to tell a story about his time
in the military police. I looked over and my girlfriend
sitting next to me, and I started to run my
fingers through her hair. I commented to her about how
beautiful she looked. She didn't respond or pay any attention
to me, as she seemed fascinated by the story. A
(06:23):
phone call from a hotel to the Kingston Police asking
for help. The desk clerk at a local hotel reported
that a woman was with a marine upstairs in her room, screaming,
you murderer, Oh my god, you murderer. The door was
locked and bolted on the inside, and the hotel clerk
was afraid of what he might find inside. He wanted
(06:43):
the MPs and the police to come immediately. He continued
in the hallway. Get a hear sobbing inside the room,
but there were no other noises. We pound it on
the door, so she screamed, you murderer, you animal.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Help.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Help whipped our weapons right out the safety, pulled the
hammer back and I heard my body back and shouldered
it into the door to get it open, and the
three of us sploded into the room with our guns
searching for a target. With our weapons locked unloaded, we
clickly surveyed the room but found no one other than
the sobbing woman sitting alone on the edge of the bed.
(07:19):
She raised her arms. He's in there, she said, as
she pointed to the bathroom. He's in there. I ordered
the other two n piece to cover the door. As
I burst into the bathroom, looking down the barrel of
my forty five, I only saw a drunken Marine sitting
on the floor in my gun sights, sitting between the
toilet and the wall with his arm around the back
of the water pipe. He looked up at me and
(07:41):
with a smile in his face, he waved his arm
and said.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Hi, yes, serge.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
We all had our guns pointed at him until we
realized he was unarmed and certainly too drunk to stand up.
I demanded to know what the hell's going on here? Marine?
With his free arm. The marine pointed inside the torele
the bowl and said look, and we all leaned forward
to peer into the bowl.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Into our amazement, there was a.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Small orange duckling the couple had won in a local fair,
swimming around the inside of the bowl. The drunk marine said,
watch this serge. With the arm around the water pipe,
he reached up and pulled the cord on the water closet.
(08:28):
The sound and a flush on the least a torrent
of screen from a woman in the room. As the
water was sucked down the drain. The duck caught in
the whirlpool started swimming faster and faster against the suction
of the vortex in an effort to stay afloat the
faster the water drain.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
The faster that duck paddled.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
In spite of his struggle to paddle fast enough though
to keep him from being flushed down the drain. He
was eventually sucked down the drain and disappeared. The bathroom
became quiet as the bull started to refill mystified. All
eyes remained transfixed on the now empty and quiet bowl,
(09:08):
which had just swallowed the Duckling Jesus Christ, Maman, what
the hell are you doing here? He said, he demanded.
Marine just sat there next to the toilet, laughing so
hard he could care less about the prospect that he
was going to be arrested and hauled off to the brig.
The woman in the other room, she just continued sobbing
about her boyfriend's cruelty until the water refilled the bowl.
(09:32):
When the water level was restored and the toilet bowl
quieted down out of the depth of the drain, the
duck suddenly popped up and continued to paddle around in
his porcelain pond as if nothing had happened. Mister Crowd
sat around the table laughing. A friend approached and asked, Hey,
(09:55):
is the coolest smoke some pot? I mean, I know
your dad was a marine and military policeman and all that.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
But is he cool?
Speaker 2 (10:03):
The reality of cultural and generational clash became real clear
to me.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Now.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
If I could have imagined at that moment that his
few days visit would turn into his becoming my roommate
for the next eighteen months, I would have thrown all
his clothes out on the driveway and bottom a one
way bus ticket back to my mom.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
And you and listening to Bob mccleollen and what a storyteller.
And we look forward to more from Bob mclellen. It's
the mclellen Files again, the mcclellen Files. Bob mclellens story,
his father's story here on our American Stories
Host
Lee Habeeb
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