The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

As the father of three daughters, I reserved the right to interview their dates. Seemed only fair to me. After all, my wife and I’d spent 16 or 17 years feeding them, dressing them, funding braces and driving them to volleyball tournaments and piano recitals. A five-minute face-to-face with the guy was a fair expectation. For the next few hours, she would be affected by his ability to drive a car, avoid the bad crowds and stay sober. I wanted to know if he could do it. I wanted to know if he was decent.

This was my word: “decent.” Would he treat my daughter with kindness and respect?...