My father came home from work to find me enjoying an afternoon snack.

“Jah!” he greeted me, true to his character.

I yanked my feet off the coffee table.

“What’s this now?” he asked, pointing at me.

“I’m sorry.” I sat up straight.

He sat on his single sofa, at right angles to mine. He didn’t sink into it, he stuck to the edge.

Uh oh, I thought. Here comes a tongue-lashing. I could just see him, pointing at me as he spoke. A lecture about how his boss gifted him the coffee table as gratitude for a decade of service.

“I am not going to repeat this.” As expected, he pointed at me. “You see this,” he flipped my plate upside down. “This is NOT for eating bacon and eggs off. This is my MK VETERAN PLATE.”

I saw an emblem and ‘MK VET’ inscribed on it.