Published 2025-08-18
tag(s): #random-thoughts
A few years ago, still living in Colorado, one of my nephews who is very much into fishing,
was obsessed with going somewhere in the mountains. The problem is, I don't fish (more on this
later, although the title is a bit of a spoiler). I didn't have a license, I didn't know where
to go...and I tried fishing in the past, it wasn't something that I was particularly excited
to do again. I didn't hate it, just indifference.
He was visiting just for a couple weeks, so we never got around to going fishing. BUT it made
Juan curious about it...many, many, many times he asked about going fishing.
Now, the parents in the room know that if you indulge into every single thing that piques your
kid's curiosity, you will soon burn out from trying things without rhyme or reason. You gotta
let things simmer a bit, to make sure the interest is genuine. And you have to prioritize what
to try, based on what you know of them, and what they'll enjoy.
We actually had a taste of fishing one afternoon near a friend's cabin, it was fun, but Juan
wanted to go to the woods or a lake. And I was planning to take him for a weekend...some day.
A few months ago, a friend that loves fishing[1] took Juan to a reservoir
near his place. A blessing! Kid gets to try the activity, and I get to stay home. Two thumbs
up.
And he loved it. So much so that our friend got him a rod and other equipment for his
birthday. More blessings! Except...the curse...
Now I don't have any excuse not to take him fishing! 🤣
One day I went with them to the reservoir and turns it the way he goes about it is kinda nice, because after casting the line you have to reel it in slowly to attract "hunting" fish[2]. It's not like how I did it when I was younger, just cast the line and wait wait wait.
And honestly, I got the feeling that nowadays, older, with more patience, and more open to
enjoying my time chilling, I will enjoy the activity even if it's just waiting.
What growing old does to a MFer...
To wrap up the preamble (yes, that was the preamble, but we are almost done, don't worry): I
have a small rod now (smaller than Juan's), and took him fishing a few times around the
heavily contaminated rivers near Secaucus. 😌
And honestly, I enjoyed it...I even had to learn how the mechanism for the line works, to undo
the mess the kid made a few times with it. Of course, I never tangled my line
>_> never ever <_<.
Before going out for the first time on our own, I headed to the NJ Environment and Wildlife
website[3] and paid for a license that is good for the current season. It
asked for quite a bit more information than I expected, among them one that threw me off:
Do you pay child support? If yes, are you late in any payments?
I read the question like..."what?". No, I don't pay child support. But the question was in my
head the whole day. I even mentioned it to Maria: the license is not expensive, so it feels
like it is a weird place to ask about child support.
Like, you could be behind your child support payments and, I don't know, lose all your
earnings in a casino. But going fishing, well, that's a step too far!
So over the last few days I came up with a story: I bet there was a dude that was very much
into fishing (of course). And he was a "free spirit, love life" kind of person. You know, the
ones that, when depicted in movies, their life is a mess but they are still lovable. Like
Robin William's character in Mrs. Doubtfire[4].
And he was constantly late on his child support payments.
His ex wife got tired of it, and decided to hit him where it hurt him the most: his precious
fishing. She started campaigning, and over a couple months put together a proposal to send to
the New Jersey Legislature. And at first it didn't get much traction, because it is a
relatively minor issue, but she was persistent and very smart and figured who to push to get
the proposal through.
And that's why 5 years later, I am asked if I am late on my child support payments before
buying a $20 fishing license.
Ask me how may variants of that story I played in my head in the last two weeks.
Actually, don't, you don't wanna know.