Humor

How much do I love “Speedo Dad”? Let me count the ways…

Most likely by now you have already seen the video posted above. It has gone viral since it was posted two days ago on Facebook and is approaching 20 million views as I type this.

The video shows a father picking up his teenage son on his son’s last day of school. The twist is that Dad shows up wearing only a Speedo, swim cap, and medals. Not only that, Dad gets out of the car and runs down the school sidewalk through crowds of kids to his mortified son. It’s inglouriously hilarious. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen this since it appeared two days ago, but I fall out of my chair every time.

How much do I love this? Let me count the ways:

1. The dad is Justin Beadles, and he happens to be an old friend of mine from seminary. He’s a pastor now in Stillwater, OK. And yes, he was hilarious back in the day too. This video was hilarious when I first saw it, but it was not surprising. Not. One. Bit.

2. What really cracks me up is the female voice off-camera that says, “Is he your church?” Ha! Could this have been an elaborate “outreach” ploy? There has to be an easier way!

3. The medals slay me too. Justin said he wanted to pick-up up his kid dressed like Michael Phelps. I can’t believe he found medals. They jingle all the way. Nice touch.

4. Justin goes running toward his son across the school yard with arms wide open and yelling his son’s name the whole way. There’s no hiding. If the kid runs, his dad will chase him around the schoolyard in that get-up. There is no option but to roll with it–which the boy does. What a great kid!

5. After the humiliation is complete, mom points the camera at the kid and sheepishly says, “It wasn’t my idea.” Nice try, Heather. You’re holding the camera! I think he noticed that you’re kinda implicated in this too.

The Beadles have been all over the news today, and I’m sure they will show up some more before the week is out. I like the interview they did with a local station. Kinda gives you a sense of the aftermath. You’ll be relieved to hear that everyone’s okay. See below.