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Time for Nick

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The phone rang. That was unusual in of itself. No one ever calls me. The few friends I do have email or Instant Message me. I picked up the phone. Nick was on the line.

"Uncle Karl, it's Nick."

What a pleasant surprise.

"How are you doing, Nick?"

Nick intimated his week had been a difficult one.

"Uncle Karl, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"When are you coming to Windsor to spoil me?"

I looked at my calendar. Next weekend was Thanksgiving. He was in luck.

"I'll be there for Thanksgiving, Nick."

"When is that?"

"In five days."

I could hear some confused mumbling. "How many sleeps is that, Uncle Karl?"

"Five sleeps, Nick."

Sleeps. How cute.

Five sleeps later I was in Windsor. I called my nephew from my mother's house. "Nick want to go to Toys R Us today?"

"Yes! When will you be here?"

"In an hour."

More confused mumbling. "How many shows is that?"

"What do you mean 'shows', Nick?"

"How many TV shows is an hour?"

Of course. "That would be one TV show, Nick."

I got to his house with five minutes to spare. His shoes and jacket were on, yet he did not look overjoyed Uncle Karl was finally here to spoil him. He looked pissed. His mother (my sister) was standing behind him. Her lips were thin and tight, betraying some small degree of agitation.

Nick tightened his fists and stamped his feet. "You're late, Uncle Karl!"

"No I'm not. I said an hour." I looked at my sister. "I said an hour."

"No," my sister responded. "You said a show."

"Yeah, a show is an hour."

"Karl, Nick is a kid. He doesn't watch Babylon 5. He watches cartoons. They're 30 minutes. So you're a show late."

After Toys R Us I took him to the mall to buy him his first watch.

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