uncle sam's burgers

i remember it was a tuesday morning
i came home from office after the night shift
only to find that US markets had fallen
after bad 'home sales numbers'
"indian markets are going to open gap down today"
exclaimed my father
with sadness written all over his face!
--
he had his 10 lacs invested in the markets.
"but our home sales numbers are not bad. there is none available for us here!" i argued!
but father was not interested.
our markets opened
....gap down!
--
next morning
when i returned home in the morning
i expected the same melancholic look on dad's face.
but to my surprise,
he was beaming!!!
"US markets have bounced back!" he announced
"who bought all the houses in one day?" i quipped
"no, no! not the houses! the unemployment rate came down!!" he said with excitement
"so why are you happy? our unemployment hasn't gone down!"
my rebuttle seemed to have poured water on his radiant face.
he shrugged my words
and switched on the tv.
our markets opened
...gap up!
--
thursday morning
i returned home
cheerful with yesterday's memories
"good morning, dad! how were the US markets? great!!?"
"the markets fell overnight!" he mumbled silently
"why? what happened? all employeds fired in one day?" i joked
"no, the retail sales figures dipped!"
i looked at dad
who was looking at me
with his dry eyes
which till last night
were twinkling brilliantly like stars
after shopping
five big bags full
from the local departmental store!!!
our markets opened
...gap down!
--
friday morning came.
i returned home
with a blank face.
i decided to wait for dad's 'breaking news'!
and i didn't have to wait
"the US markets are up!"
he announced!!!
tears of joy rolled down my cheeks...
"but yesterday you said the retail sales were down?"
"fed reduced the interest rates!" dad interrupted."this is expected to boost the sales!"
"where? in india?" i sniffed.
dad again ignored my mischievous prick.
our markets opened
...gap up!
--
saturday morning
while returning home
after my last night shift of the week
i stopped on the way
at McDonald's
to get packed for dad
his favourite McVeggie Burger!!!
thereafter i rushed home with surprise in my hands
--
"good morning, dad!"
i chirped
entering the door left open for me.
i rushed straight to the microwave to warm up the happiness under wraps!
i looked at dad through the corners of my eyes
he seemed very upset!
he smiled at me but couldn't hide his mood!
"what happened dad?"
"US markets crashed last night!"
"good lord!!! what happened now?"
i asked.
dad couldn't say a word.
he had a lump in his throat.
he tried again
but words failed him.
"tell me, dad, why did they fall even after the rate slash yesterday?"
dad took a deep breath
and said
"the burger sales crashed yesterday!!!"
--
i went speechless for over a minute.
somehow i gathered myself
looked at the microwave
and asked
"how does it effect our markets dad?"
dad ignored me
and switched on the tv.
the anchor on bloomberg announced
"the markets have just opened with a big gap down!"
--